Effigermus
by T'Kirr
Summary: TenRose. Two species have grown unnaturally apart. The Tenth Doctor and Rose find themselves whisked away into a sensual mystery of greed, love and loyalty that shatters the barriers of their relationship.
1. Sariel's Shoppe

TenRose. Two species have grown unnaturally apart. The Tenth Doctor and Rose find themselves whisked away into a sensual mystery of greed, love and loyalty that shatters the barriers of their relationship.

This story is rated M for a strong sexual theme throughout. If you aren't interested in the Doctor and Rose in this respect, please do NOT read.

Cover art is available from my deviantArt (homepage). I'll make regular updates to my profile during the posting of this story. Reviews to me are like companions to the Doctor—they give me a reason! I respond to every one.

Endless thanks to WhoMe-2 for her invaluable feedback. Without her, Effigermus would have died with Chapter Four. Focus on this section: Psychology.

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><p>-^^-W-^^-<p>

The Doctor and Rose entered the little shoppe, happily giggling to each other as the door swished open, and the smartly-dressed, human-looking woman behind the counter greeted them with a smile.

"Welcome to Quality Treasures!"

The Doctor grinned back. "Lovely, yes!" He began scanning the various shelves and display cases, thinking it polite to divert his attention from Rose long enough to find his next compliment. "Lots of bits and bobs. Curious stuff you've got here. Ooh, I love these!" He crouched down and squinted enthusiastically through the glass counter at what looked like a fairly complete Plumic Shell collection.

Rose began to browse the small aisles, and the shopkeeper addressed him. "Would you like to see it?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Nah, dunno what I'd do with them." He stood and smiled. "Just like looking. I'm the Doctor, by the way, and that's Rose. What's your name?"

The woman smiled easily. Her hair was blonde like Rose's, but longer and pulled back tightly behind her head. She seemed somehow overdressed in her light tan suit that ended at the knees, but the Doctor figured she just took her business seriously. "Sariel. You from here?"

"Nope! Off-worlders, us. Can't resist new cultures!"

Sariel seemed pleased by this information, the Doctor noted, probably thinking she could sell them something any native would know was junk. "Ah, that's wonderful! I wonder," Sariel turned and produced a delicate vial with a pump, "would your wife be interested in the scent of the beholder?"

The Doctor stood with his mouth open for a moment. While happy to have Rose referred to as his wife, he wasn't sure she would be pleased if he didn't deny the fact. Hands in pockets, he twisted at the waist, his brown coat swishing over his ankles, to peer momentarily at Rose. He couldn't tell by her expression whether she had heard or not, but she was looking directly at him. He turned back to the shopkeeper and plastered a grin on his face. "Oh, we're not married."

The woman arched an eyebrow. "Oh no? I would have never guessed..." Her eyes darted behind him at Rose. "Girlfriend?"

The Doctor clenched his jaw and squinted one eye, having been down this road before. "Not as such... is this going somewhere?"

Somehow, the lady looked even more pleased but was subtly attempting to hide the fact. She pulled back the vial and stashed it out of sight. "Oh, no, I did not mean to offend! Perhaps I can offer you something more appropriate, then?" Sariel turned to the back counter. There was a tray with two teapots and sleeve of small paper cups. She picked up the tray and turned back to the Doctor. "Perhaps I can offer you a sample of today's sale?"

"Oh, that's nice. Rose?" The Doctor turned to meet her eyes, and Rose came over to the counter.

"What is it?"

"An herbal tea from Iosiphonia." Sariel bent over the counter towards Rose and whispered, "I have a bit every day, love the stuff." Rose grinned as the woman played to her mischievous side. "I ordered a large quantity and I'm putting it on sale to build up demand from the people in town, but I'm happy to share it with visitors, too!"

"Yeah, I'll give it a go." Rose smiled politely as she was passed a cup. "Thanks."

The Doctor watched Rose wrap her hands around her cup and take a tentative sip before he was passed his own. He hovered over the surface a moment, inhaling its spicy sweet scent, before testing the liquid himself. "Mm, it's good!" Rose nodded her agreement and turned her attention back to their surroundings.

"So you have things here from all over, then?" Rose asked as she noted the variety. By her experience, she could tell that not everything there came from one planet.

"Oh, yes. Most of my collection is from this side of the system, but we have a few special treasures from beyond." Sariel winked at Rose.

Rose smiled back politely. "What about this planet? What's this place known for?"

"Well, I've got some authentic Chosthu treejumper teeth. Those tend to be popular with new folks." Sariel pointed at a bundle of cords with purple spade-shaped teeth tied to the ends. "I had some desert skates, but they really don't sell well here since there's no desert in the northern areas of Chosthu. Have you been to the desert regions yet?"

The Doctor and Rose shook their heads.

"It's so hot there, the sand turns to glass. During the winter, you can skate on it. Very popular sport here!"

The Doctor nodded. "How does it turn back to sand?"

Sariel raised her eyebrows. "Sorry?"

"Well if it's all glass last year, how does it turn back to sand so that it can turn into glass again this year? Or if it's always glass, where does the new sand come from to melt into glass in the hot season? Sounds like a dangerous place, don't go near a construction site, that's for sure!"

Sariel puzzled. "I... I don't know. Honestly I haven't been here a year yet. I was only told about it."

The Doctor frowned with interest thinking it at least might be worth checking out and turned to Rose. She didn't seem interested in the least.

In fact, Rose seemed troubled. A small line formed between her brows. "Sorry but, can I use your loo?"

Sariel smiled and gestured delicately to the back. "Yes, it's just there on the left." The Doctor watched her hurry along and disappear into the dark back corridor, briefly wondering if he should be concerned, but Sariel continued. "If you plan on staying on Chosthu, they should be opening up the deserts for recreation in the next few weeks. Every year it's a bit different depending on the weather patterns."

There was a sound from the back, and the Doctor turned to look but couldn't see anything. He craned his neck and frowned.

"It's a mess back there. She probably just bumped some boxes over. I'll clean it up later, no worries." Sariel smiled up at him, drawing back his attention. "Feel free to look about. I'm sure she won't be long."

The Doctor nodded, gave the back corridor one last look and began to roam at a leisurely pace, looking at this and that. It wasn't a particularly fascinating shoppe, and the tea wasn't really that good, but Sariel was nice enough and he found himself minding his behaviour around Rose more and more. He stopped a moment in thought, wondering if he really should be concerned about that.

Sariel disappeared into the back, he noted, and he wondered if she went to check on Rose. She returned a moment later and began busying herself behind the counter. He was about to ask if she had seen Rose, but he bit back the words. What was he like, carrying on like a mother hen? He forced his eyes back to the shelves, not really paying attention to what he was looking at, but the attempt at distracting himself kept him occupied. As soon as Rose came out, they would be off. He thought he had spotted a chippie round the corner; they could stop for lunch. He thought back to the last time they had chips, at how much he had enjoyed watching Rose laugh at his tales of adventures past. Nice place, Sariel, but we really must be going, see you!

"Sorry, Doctor?"

He looked up and found Sariel behind the counter, her hands raised and holding something. "Hm?"

Sariel bit her lip. "I don't mean to trouble you, but... you seem such a gentleman and, well, I'm thinking good with your hands too, yes?"

Why yes, yes he was. He frowned and walked to the front, his eyes moving to the small spot of pink in her hands. Despite her flattery, he was determined to show it wasn't working while still wishing to be helpful. He was also on guard. "Suppose so, why?"

The shopkeeper looked up at him apologetically from a downcast face. "It's just that... well, your friend. Her name reminded me of this." She spread her cupped hands for him to see the rose-shaped object, careful to hold it only by its base." I've just got it down from the shelf and, well I've been meaning to clean it, but with all the inventory I've been doing lately..." Sariel sighed and looked up at him. "Could you clean it up for me? While you're waiting. I hate to ask, really, but maybe if it shines again, you'll see how lovely it is. Perhaps you'd even want to make a purchase for your lady." She winked at him.

"Hm," he grumbled noncommittally, but reached for the sculpture all the same. His fingers stopped just shy of the object before he pulled them away. "I really should go see if Rose is all right." He made for the back of the shoppe.

"Oh, you wouldn't be allowed in the women's room!" Sariel scolded. Her words and tone were just enough to make him hesitate. Sariel hurried up to him. "I'll check on her. Here!" She lifted her hand, palm down, and he raised his automatically to receive it. Sariel then bustled past him and into the corridor. "Make yourself comfortable on the sofa. I'll be right back!"

He turned on his heel to the small sitting area next to the door and peered at the thing in his hand. Sighing, he made his way over to the sofa and had a seat.

The Doctor rotated the small, satsuma-sized corolla in his fingertips. Now that he had a better look at it, he found it to be a rather curious material—light pink and glossy, smooth, and slightly transparent as if glass, but just on the surface. He experimented with the pad of his thumb, rubbing at the broad surface of an exterior petal, and found it to be soft and slightly pliant. Fascinating!

There was a thin film over the surface, perhaps dust, and it cleared away where he had worked at it. Just under the shiny surface appeared to be a soft velvet texture. The surface reflected the light, but its core absorbed it. It really was quite lovely.

"Rose says she's fine, she just needs another minute," Sariel said as she returned to the front.

"What's this made of?" the Doctor asked conversationally as he slowly, delicately ran the soft part of a finger along one of the petal's edges. It wasn't sharp, but it was sturdy, keeping its shape.

"Mm..." Sariel paused, thinking. "I don't remember the material, but I believe it came from the Moon of Muramphe."

"Really," the Doctor mumbled. The Moon of Muramphe. There was something about that place that put him on edge, but he didn't bother dwelling on it long enough to recall why. It couldn't be all that bad, he thought, if its inhabitants created a lovely thing such as this, could it? "Do you have anything to clean with?"

"Oh!" Sariel exclaimed. "I'm sorry! Yes, I have something around here, been moving things around so..." She trailed off as she appeared to be searching behind the counter. "It's around here somewhere, just let me look."

The Doctor was studiously buffing out more filmy areas with his fingers when he noticed the object began to move. He stopped and stared at it. The rose was, well, _blooming_. He couldn't say right when it had started as it had begun rather slowly, but now that he had ceased contact, the spreading petals slowly stopped and held their new positions.

"Hello," he greeted the object in delight. He watched it, as if awaiting a response, but it was silent. The Doctor then looked up at Sariel, his eyebrows raised, and emphatically informed her, "This isn't a statuette."

"What?" Sariel peered up from behind the counter at him, then looked at the rose. "Oh, no it's not! Didn't I say?"

"No, you didn't."

"It's meant to do that, of course! Pretty, isn't it?"

The Doctor reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out his thick-rimmed glasses, and deftly perched them onto his nose with one hand. "What is it?"

Sariel frowned. "I don't know." Her brow furrowed as she began looking for cleaning supplies again. "Most people don't ask. If they like it, they buy it."

The Doctor returned his attention to the curio in his hands and began rubbing at it again. He was beginning to like Sariel less, but he was liking this rose more and more. In the end, he just might purchase it after all... right after he sonicked himself some local currency.

Should he hide it from Rose, give it to her as a surprise over chips? The Doctor swept his tongue thoughtfully over his back teeth as he imagined the look on her face as she discovered its more interesting properties.

The rose continued to bloom as he worked at the broader surfaces. He was afraid he might break the petals, because even as he pressed hard enough to polish them, they expanded outward against him. He eased off, lightening his touch, deciding to wait until the flower bloomed outward enough for him to apply equal pressure to both sides of a petal so he wouldn't damage it. That way, he could also get to the more intricate places where he couldn't clean because Sariel didn't seem to have all her rocks and was taking her sweet time at finding those supplies.

He glanced up over his frames, sparing a few seconds to watch Sariel muck about. She really had no idea what he had his hands on.

The Doctor suddenly noticed the animating object was getting darker, redder. Rosier! A sly grin slipped across his face, and he made a small happy sound in the back of his throat. "Ooh, you're enjoying this, aren't you?" he murmured quietly to it as he lightly caressed its curves. He surreptitiously glanced up under his brows, suddenly conscientious and hoping Sariel didn't hear. She didn't appear to notice.

The outer petals had spread far enough for him to get a grip around one if he nudged it a bit. Strange, it felt slightly warm inside. No, it was probably just absorbing the warmth from his hands. He rubbed his finger and thumb together on either side of the petal in little circles, now able to press more firmly.

The outer petals spread more readily, seeming to like this. Oh, listen to him go on in his head about this thing being alive! It was certainly fun to pretend, though, as long as Sariel didn't hear him talking to it. The Doctor kept his mouth shut in his private little corner of the shoppe, entertaining himself with this little delight as he waited for Rose to do... whatever it was she was doing.

What was keeping her, anyway?

A sweet scent reached his nose, and the Doctor pushed his nose down into the flower and breathed slowly and deeply, savouring its scent. What a treasure this was! Whoever made it was very talented, and he decided as soon as they left planetside, they would go visit the Moon of Muramphe. Why did that place sound familiar, in a bad way?

The Doctor was sat with his elbows on his knees as he peered closely at the flower. Strange, the next layer of petals had a filmy layer on it, too, as if it had been stored open. He glanced up at Sariel, who was busy at the counter with her back to him. He wanted to ask about it, but he found he really wasn't in the mood to draw attention to himself.

Curling his tongue over his upper lip, the Doctor concentrated on removing the dust from the second layer of petals. The exterior petals fell away even more as the next ones began to loosen. By the time he was done, this thing was going to shine in all its possible beauty. It wasn't just the way it managed to look hard and soft at the same time, but it _felt _that way, too. Its colour was deepening to a dark red, and the petals were becoming more and more pliant.

Some of the film down deep between the petals was being stubborn, refusing to rub away. It was probably too dry. It no doubt tasted nasty, but he would sacrifice the experience for a good cause. The Doctor opened his mouth, his lips meeting the edges of both explored layers, and dipped his tongue between them to wet the dust, which did taste nasty. It was dust all right. At least his efforts were working. He rubbed away more of the dust and wet more of the elusive crevices, wishing he had a cotton bud. Now there was a brilliant invention! Quality-tips, perfect for getting in the tight spaces. He would have to take another trip back to the nineteen twenties and visit Mr. Gerstenzang. Certainly the genius mind that came up with such a useful, disposable device had other great ideas.

A solution struck him, and he ducked his head again. He couldn't reach the acutest of angles with his fingertips, but he most certainly could with his tongue. Slipping into the tight spaces of the third layer of petals, the Doctor worked his tongue in and out, flat against the supple flesh of the flower, concentrating on the textures at the tip of his tongue. He found pulling it from side to side worked better, flattening the tip into an edge and allowing him to reach further.

The Doctor closed his eyes, the rhythmic way he lapped at the surfaces soothing and almost hypnotic, yet somehow exhilarating. In the back of his mind, he noted that his hearts were throbbing as if he'd been running. He pulled and pulled, cleaning away the fine texture of the grime and making one bit smooth before moving on to the next.

The second layer sloughed readily away, and he began work on the third. He was almost to the centre now. The filmy taste no longer bothered him, and he could sense something else, perhaps the flavour of the petals themselves. Its heady scent filled his nostrils, driving him on. He was almost done. He was so close. The Doctor rolled his tiring tongue, wrapping it around the inner petals, stroking it clean, and he found himself mechanically stroking the base of the rose with his thumbs.

The flower pulsed. Startled, the Doctor jerked his head away, staring down at it. The rose was now a deep crimson, but it wasn't moving. He could swear it pulsed! He had felt it against his tongue. Suddenly once again aware of his surroundings, the Doctor swallowed nervously and noted Sariel still had her back to him, doing something at the counter.

What had he been doing? Getting away from himself, for sure! Focusing on slowing the flow of blood to his cheeks, the Doctor gingerly pulled away the last of the petals and looked inside.

Its filaments glittered like crystal, topped with anthers that glistened with aromatic oil. The flower's ovary and style were transparent. He squinted and held it to the light, his fingers splaying the petals open.

Within the ovary and length of the style, the Doctor could make out a single golden hair.

The Doctor glanced away, attempting to connect the thoughts that bounced around his foggy brain.

Something was wrong. He stood, staring at Sariel, and folded his glasses away before pocketing them. She continued to ignore him, busying herself at nothing in particular. "Found those cleaning supplies yet?"

Sariel turned, giving him a questioning look.

"Perhaps a cotton bud?" The Doctor, now annoyed with himself as he began to strongly suspect he'd been played, heard his voice growing harder, more dangerous. "Hell, a wet towel with a bit of solution?"

The woman turned fully, looking him up and down, then at the rose in his hand.

"Where's Rose?" he demanded.

"Perfectly fine, I'm sure," Sariel deadpanned. "More than fine, really."

The Doctor stormed toward the counter, taking care only to place the flower gently on its surface before glaring menacingly at Sariel and moving past and into the back corridor.


	2. Effigermus

This chapter has been edited _slightly_ for the rating system. The full version can be found on Teaspoon.

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><p>Rose watched the door, fearing the Doctor had been caught. She couldn't hear anything outside the room, but she suspected the same thing that happened to her when she had walked the same path would also happen to him. As much as she didn't want the Doctor to be caught, she desperately didn't want him to be locked into a separate room.<p>

They were good at finding ways out of impossible situations, but if Rose wasn't there to watch the Doctor's mind work, the not knowing would drive her crazy.

But even this took a back seat to her current thoughts. While the thought of the Doctor showing up through the doorway was appealing, she also wanted to crawl away and hide. Rose was flushed, breathing deeply, and even though she was fully dressed, she was convinced he would see right through her, see the evidence of what he had just unknowingly done.

The door buzzed and opened. Rose kicked, attempting to straighten up on her elbows as best she could on the hospital bed. The restraints pulled at her wrists.

The two men, who appeared to be human like Sariel, entered hauling the Doctor between them by his arms. She noticed by contrast how much more muscular they appeared than he did, and this fact only served to dishearten her further. Not that the Doctor muscled his way out of anything anyway.

"Rose!"

You walked right into a trap, idiot. How are you supposed to rescue me, now?

"Hey," Rose responded simply in meek acknowledgement.

The Doctor struggled as the two men lay him down on a bed next to hers. There wasn't much space in the room for more than the two beds and a couple of metres between. After the shackles were locked around the Doctor's wrists and he had tested both of them once, he stopped struggling.

One of the men attached what the Doctor assumed were leads to each side of his forehead, just at the hairline. He looked over to Rose. She had the same on hers. Except...

Sariel entered holding up the small, rose-shaped object in her hands. It still appeared fully bloomed.

"What do you want?" the Doctor demanded.

"Do you know why the effigermus is so expensive, Doctor?" Sariel asked as she took a little dropper and squeezed the bulb above the flower. A single drop disappeared into the petals, and the rose began to slowly draw itself closed. She stashed the dropper into a pocket.

The Doctor sucked in a humouring breath through his teeth as he watched the flower. "Ooh, let's see, where did you say it was from? The Moon of Muramphe, and 'effigermus,' you called it? Or 'germinating effigy,' I suppose. If you didn't actually lie about its origin, I'd guess the Muramphian economy's in a swing and they searched far and wide for a species as subversive as they are to sell their goods to, and guess what? They found you lot."

"Clever, you are." Sariel smiled. The petals of the rose were now tightly wrapped around its centre, just how the Doctor had first seen it. "All effigermi are restricted to one host, but this latest breed is very precious. The creators of this species have bred into it a memory, and with just a single drop of lerova oil, it can be triggered." Sariel pulled out a small device and looked to Rose.

Rose jumped as if in surprise, attracting the Doctor's eye. Sariel pressed a button on the device. The video screen above her head sprang to life, and the Doctor saw an image of himself in the lobby with the very object the woman was holding. As the video began to play, the Doctor realised it was footage of his actions earlier. Confused as to why the video was of any consequence, the Doctor was more concerned by Rose and looked to her.

"Rose," the Doctor asked tentatively. She jumped again. Sariel turned and began to walk out of the room.

Rose yelled, "Why are you doing this?"

"What are you doing?" the Doctor yelled after the woman.

Sariel merely smiled as the door closed behind her.

The Doctor pulled at his bonds, unable to reach his sonic screwdriver. He looked back to Rose, a look of fear on her face. "Rose, what's going on? Are you all right?" She didn't answer. Her breathing was shallow, and he noticed her skin was tinged pinker than usual. Her jaw was clenched tightly as if she were restraining herself.

He looked up at the playback, desperate for a clue as to what was going on. Rose shied away from the screen, tipping the Doctor off that something about it was making her uncomfortable. He began to study it, knowing there must be some connection.

Sariel had said the effigermus had a memory, and a host. He scrutinised his past self fiddling with the flower. Was it a memory of what he had done to it? And its host... was very probably almost certainly the owner of the golden hair in its centre. _Rassilon_, it was an effigy of... well, what else could it represent? A fierce heat crept up the Doctor's neck as he swallowed, and he looked to Rose. "Rose," he asked tentatively. "Are you in pain?"

Rose shook her head, her eyes shut tight. His breath caught in his throat as he took her gesture as confirmation of what he feared. He looked away, not knowing what to do, but almost immediately forced himself to look back at Rose to better project the sincerity of his words. "I'm sorry, Rose, I didn't know. I swear I didn't."

"I know," Rose nodded quickly. "I saw her give it to you. Everything that was said." She knew he wouldn't do this if he knew.

Embarrassment turned to anger. "Why's she doing this?" he burst out. "It doesn't make any sense! Does she really get off on the mortification of complete strangers?"

Since it really had been a rhetorical question, he wasn't really surprised when Rose once again didn't respond. The Doctor didn't know where his eyes should settle, feeling helpless and unable to do anything, searching for inspiration but not wanting to linger on Rose's clearly aroused yet unsettled form.

After a tense minute of the Doctor staring at the seam where the wall met the ceiling, he spoke softly. "I'm so sorry."

"You said that already," Rose managed.

"I know, but—"

"And I said I understand, you didn't do it on... pur—" Rose promptly became incapable of speech and let slip a little helpless moan.

The Doctor shut his eyes. He was doing this to her. No, he hadn't done it on purpose as Rose had been about to say, but he was still responsible. He opened his eyes and stared at the screen, at the recording of himself pinching the outer petals of the blooming effigermus and rubbing firmly. He was angry at how oblivious he had been. No, there had been no clear clues as to its link to Rose, but wasn't he smarter than that?

Despite how horrible he felt, the Doctor found himself retreating somewhat to the safe and familiar territory of curiousity. His mind tended to do well under pressure, after all. How did the effigermus work? He knew it was a different science than he was used to, and he really must someday visit the Moon of Muramphe. How did they account for the differences in species, or did it only work on certain ones?

Did it work on males?

The Doctor briefly wondered what it would be like if their situation were reversed, but he quickly chucked that train of thought. He decided it was entirely too embarrassing to think about, and it only highlighted the intensity of what Rose must be feeling now.

He swallowed thickly. "Is there anything I can do?"

"You can shut up." Rose snapped.

The Doctor clenched his jaw shut.

Rose closed her eyes and managed a small sigh of exasperation. "I'm sorry."

"No, don't be."

"I'm... a bit... tense." Oh, bother! "I mean—"

"I know. Just... I'll be quiet. Don't mind me. Well... apart from the obvious." The Doctor grimaced. "Oh hell, I'm sorry. I'm shutting up now."

Rose was hot with mostly embarrassment and thought she might catch fire with the heat of it. What must he think of her, reacting as strongly as she was to his suggested touch? No, it wasn't her idea, but would he assume she harboured feelings for him that were causing her to react so strongly now? It wasn't his idea either, so it couldn't technically be rape, right? Not by him, anyway. To her, though, it was still forced upon her, and it felt degrading.

Then again, when she saw him bury his nose into the rose petals and caress her just so...

Oh, God.

Rose felt horrible for enjoying this in front of him when he clearly regretted that he had been the cause of it.

Thinking nothing could make her feel worse, she decided sparing a glance at the Doctor couldn't do any harm at this point. His head was turned away, the muscles of his jaw working. His brow was bunched up in distress, the entire profile of his face showing signs of guilt. It was strange, but despite all the reasons to hate the situation, she found that perhaps the worst was the Doctor didn't seem to be finding any pleasure in it.

He had apparently the first time around. Really, could he get that into cleaning something with his tongue?

Sort of like what he was doing right now, _very_ effectively.

The Doctor turned at the sound of Rose's feet pushing against the bed. Her breath was alternating between coming out in short pants and catching in her throat, causing her chest to twitch alluringly in her lavender V-neck. When she moved in her tight, low-slung jeans and her neck arched back...

He turned his head away, his mouth open as he tried to get his lungs to cooperate. She was sensually so _beautiful_, and it wasn't for him to see! While he was sure he wouldn't look back at Rose just then, he allowed his curiousity a glance at the screen; a glance was all that was necessary to know what it was that she was reacting to. He wasn't supposed to know she found pleasure in such things! He _liked _knowing, let's be honest, but he also liked Rose liking him, and he greatly feared what this was going to do to the friendship he valued above anything else in his otherwise lonely existence.

It was important to her that she keep her feminine secrets from him, and rightly she should. Until she said otherwise.

Rose whimpered in frustration and the Doctor, ever-tuned to her possible distress, turned his face to her again. Despite the sound she made, she showed signs of relief as her body calmed, no doubt due to the experience being over with and not being over with _fantastically_.

The Doctor's conclusion was accurate. Rose didn't care that she was left unsatisfied and was just grateful it was over. She really didn't want to look at him, but she burned to know what he was thinking and glanced momentarily at his face. His expression was that of pity and understanding.

"You okay?"

She didn't even have to think about it and shook her head. "No."

The Doctor nodded, accepting that his question was stupid in the first place. He felt compelled to just talk it out, and several times he had to keep himself from breaking the silence and just give her time.

He really thought he would be able to last until she spoke first, but five minutes later he could no longer take feeling so alienated from her. The Doctor thought of something safe to say. "When I last saw you, you walked back here. What happened? I thought I heard a noise, like you bumping into something." He pretty much knew what had happened, but the point was to get her talking to him.

Rose snorted. "And that wasn't your first clue I was in trouble?"

"I thought you'd just knocked something over!" He dropped his pitch down to normal levels. "She said it was a mess back here. How was I to know?"

"Yeah," Rose acknowledged. "Those two men grabbed me and pulled me in here like they did you."

"Did you try calling out?" His eyes bugged when he realised how that sounded. "For me, I mean." He then hesitated, his mouth open, appearing to concentrate on choosing his words more carefully. "Like, 'cause you're in trouble..."

Rose couldn't help but find amusement in his fumbling and found it curious how she could laugh at this form of embarrassment and despise another. She bit back a grin. "I get it. And yeah, I did. Didn't hear me, did you?"

"No," he shook his head, relieved to hear some lightness in her voice. "No."

She indicated the room with a motion of her head. "Think the room's soundproof."

The Doctor looked all around at the walls, the door. "Yeah," he agreed sullenly. He dropped his voice as low as it would go. "Foreboding." His eyes settled on the panel on the side of Rose's bed facing him, under her head. From here, he could make out the larger of the words at the top. It read "Compatible" lit up in green.

Curious, he examined the electronics more closely. He made a face. "These beds are rubbish."

"Tell me about it."

"No, they are. They're old, Class Four or Five. They should be beyond these in this day, even going with secondhand."

Rose was preoccupied with more disturbing thoughts. "So what's that mean?" she asked, not really caring about the answer.

"Well," he began distractedly, still craning his neck to study the device. "They're old, yes, but not old enough to need leads."

His slow words made Rose recognise that the Doctor was thinking, which could eventually lead to a way out of here. He also seemed beyond fixating on the horror of what had just happened, so he now had her full attention. "Those things on my head?" She looked at his. "And yours?"

"Mm hm..." His eyes settled on hers again. "I don't think they _are _leads."

Rose's eyes were wide. He looked expectantly at her, his face impartial as if challenging her to work it out on her own, but she didn't have a clue. "Then what are they?"

His eyes traveled up her bed, behind the headrest where she couldn't see. "Rose... I have not-leads attached to my head, yes?"

She looked up a little. "Um, yeah..."

"And a tank behind me?"

Her eyes moved again. "Yeah, guess it could be." She frowned, attempting to see through the thick, murky liquid. She had assumed it was some sort of solution, but now that the Doctor was here, she could see his not-leads were coming out of it. "That's... it's not putting that stuff into us, is it?" she asked in growing alarm.

"No, that's not it." He stared at Rose's tank. "Look at it, Rose."

She looked at the tank, into it. After a few moments, she thought she saw something move. "Is that...? Oh my God, is that thing alive?"

The Doctor wet his lips dramatically. "These," he said, his forehead wrinkling as he looked up his head, "are tentacles."

If she could have flung them off of her, she would have. Seeing as thrashing about in sudden disgust at the off chance she would be able to shake them loose would probably cost Rose her dignity, she refrained from doing so and took a deep breath before asking as calmly as she could, "And what do you suppose they're there for?"

The Doctor drew in a deep breath through his nose as he thought. "I can't say I feel any alterations to my thinking patterns, any injections, any coercion... No, I think it's the other way round. Question is... what for?"

"Feeding somehow?"

"Mental energy..." His eyes darted around. "Think about it, what were we asking before? Why do this to us? What's the purpose? It _feeds _them somehow!"

The door clicked and opened. The two guards filed in and framed the doorway as Sariel stepped inside.

The Doctor pulled at his bonds as the woman entered. "How did you construct all of this, work everything out so it came to this?"

Sariel narrowed her eyes in curiousity. "How do you mean?"

"Like... I assume you spiked Rose's tea, and whatever you used simulated digestive distress to get her to come back here. How was I not affected? You didn't put anything in her cup."

"Please, Doctor, would you call my shoppe successful? I do this for a living." The woman shook her head, amused. "Did you not notice I used both teapots?" The Doctor stared at her, unbelieving he had missed that. "Oh, it really wasn't that difficult. You couldn't take your eyes off her, you know."

He tried to hold his eyes on Sariel, but his gaze faltered as he concentrated on interrupting his automatic reaction to blush, something he had been having to do a lot of lately.

"And I suppose what you did just now is give the Doctor's Dalek-wannabe in that bucket back there a bit of a boost?" Rose shot at Sariel.

The Doctor looked at Rose, letting how proud he was of her flood through him and douse the flames of embarrassment but not show on his face.

Sariel arched a brow at Rose, impressed. "Ooh, been thinking back here while I was away?" She pursed her lips. "Seems you've recovered more quickly than I was expecting." She looked from one to the other. "No matter. I have methods just as effective on closer couples. After this one has worn through its use, you'll have more... shall we say _exciting _programmes to use." She gave them a self-satisfied smile as both swallowed involuntarily in nervous anticipation.

The Doctor wanted to call her bluff. He _really _did, but he just didn't think he could. He hadn't encountered this lifestyle before, but that didn't mean it wasn't possible. Even if he wasn't sure she was wrong, he would normally give it a go and see if bravado would make his enemy cave, but in this case, the Doctor was a special sort of afraid.

The fear of losing his relationship with Rose was apparently a rather great and unwelcome weakness of his.

Sariel produced Rose's effigermus, once again fully bloomed. At the sight of it, Rose began to pant in fear.

"No, please. No, I can't..."

"Oh, I know you can't, so don't worry your little head. Gelry here will get you some water, and you'll have yourself a break." She peered past them as one of the guards disappeared out the door. "You're not the only ones that need one."

"What are these things, anyway?" the Doctor asked. "And what exactly are they feeding off of?"

Sariel gave him a small smile. "Oh, from what you've said, you've worked that out."

"Humiliation? Really, though?"

"The strongest kind of emotional energy. You wouldn't believe what the Bosthinats pay to keep them growing healthy."

Gelry the guard returned with water. "There's a customer, ma'am."

She nodded. "Give them water and close the door." She turned.

"Just one more thing," the Doctor asked quickly. Sariel stopped and looked at him rather patiently. He motioned to the effigermus in her hand with a nod of his head. "You used Rose's hair in that. How did you even get it _in _there?"

"It ships bloomed. Once it receives its reagent, you know it's ready when it closes up around it."

With that, Sariel left.

Gelry brought water to Rose first.

"This isn't drugged or anything, is it?"

Gelry wasn't fazed. "Would it matter even if it was?"

Rose sighed. "Guess not. Give it here."

As Gelry patiently tipped the glass for her, the Doctor looked to the guard still by the door. "Aren't you two bothered by this at all? Kidnapping people off the streets and torturing them like this?"

The guard looked back at him. The Doctor could see a hint of something break in his eyes.

"Don't," Gelry warned. Apparently Gelry had seen it, too, or knew by experience.

"It's not something I—"

"I said shut it, Nash!" Gelry spat.

The Doctor turned his eyes to Gelry. "What's the problem, Gelry? I can help, I really can."

"That's enough," Gelry interrupted him. He took the glass from Rose still half full, walked toward the Doctor and sloshed what was left across the Doctor's face.

The Doctor, unable to use his hands, whipped his head quickly to the side, flinging water against the wall. Dripping, he glared dangerously at Gelry as the guard stormed from the room. Nash threw the Doctor an apologetic look before he followed Gelry from the room and closed the door behind them.


	3. Escape Plan

Trouble always seemed to find him. The Doctor and Rose had fit Sariel's needs perfectly—they had so far been the best of friends but not intimately involved, the Doctor loved curious little things and loved to fiddle with them even more. She had pegged him perfectly and played him.

If he didn't get Rose out of here, she was going to suffer worse than what she had so far, and he along with her, not that he cared about himself. His mind raced through escape plans. Some of them would work if only he could get past things like "if only I weren't shackled to a bed," "if only Sariel had a past as a life coach" and "if only I had regenerated into a Wurgan goo."

Then again, if two of those things _had _happened, he was quite sure Sariel would have never looked twice at them in the first place.

If only he could get past all the "if-only's."

When the Doctor had exhausted the more creative side of his brain, he told himself he had to think outside his normal way of thinking, the way that told him that despite the great variety of cultures throughout the universe, there were rules that varisapiens in general tended to live by, a set of base codes all peoples seemed to develop as their respective races progressed through the tribal stages and onward through civilisations.

Sariel assured them her methods would escalate with new ways to humiliate them. Eventually they would become desensitised with her best efforts, be of no more use to her and probably be killed, but until then it would be torture.

The Doctor could see what was coming and he knew what he had to do. The sooner the better, because the longer they lay there the duller they would become, and it would become harder and harder to escape. All this lying about was making him sleepy.

Put simply, he had to get over himself.

He found that once he had solidified the decision in his mind, it really wasn't all that difficult to proceed.

"I've got a plan to get out of here," he told the ceiling.

Rose immediately gave him her full attention. "Gonna share with the class?"

He turned his head, blinking slowly in acceptance of her inevitable ire, and fixed his eyes on her. "But you're not going to like it."

Rose swallowed as she studied him, looking for a clue. Any way out sounded brilliant to her, but the look on his face made her wary. "What am I not gonna like?"

His chest rose visibly as he pulled in a deep breath, staring intently at her. He released the breath before speaking. "These things." He glanced behind Rose's head. "They feed off our negative energy. Our humiliation." Rose averted her eyes, uncomfortable already with the topic, but she had to hear him out and returned her gaze. "But I don't think that's all they can assimilate. These Bosthinats she mentioned working for, though—I don't think they're clever enough to realise it." He shook his head, making a face. "They're an aggressive race, untrusting. Coming up with something like this doesn't surprise me. They prey on others, forcing people to give them what they want."

The Doctor paused, staring off at the wall behind Rose. Her eyebrows rose. "And?"

His eyes shifted back to her with that glazed look of his, the unnerving one that suggested his mind was elsewhere but you suspected he was alert and studying your every move. "What if we fed them positive energy?"

He was being vague, but Rose started to get nervous, hoping he wasn't thinking what she _thought _he was thinking. If negative energy was humiliation, then positive energy... "Like?"

The glazed look disappeared, the Doctor's eyes focusing and looking straight into her. "You've got to enjoy it, Rose."

She looked away, barely holding back a laugh. Enjoy it! If only he knew what the first time had been like! Rose took a deep, calming breath. She knew what he meant. Was this real? Was he _actually _saying this to her? The Doctor was suggesting she not hold back, not let humiliation get in the way of the experience. Here, now, in this room. In front of him.

"It doesn't make sense that these things would just feed off the negative," the Doctor began, switching into full Sciencey Mode. "Well, it's possible, yeah, but not likely. Ooh, I know what it's like!" Rose turned to watch him as he got expressive. "It's like in _Monsters Incorporated_. The monsters scare the children silly, and they use all that fright energy to power their city. What they don't realise is they can tap into a much stronger positive energy that's much more efficient, the energy created by laughter. This situation's different, though."

Rose almost snorted, but stopped just short. Much different situation, she agreed. A much more _mature _version.

The Doctor continued, unaware of her inner musings. "Creatures are feeding directly off it. They can't just upgrade their garden hose into a fire hose to take the load. They'd gorge themselves. We'd stuff them right up."

"Doctor."

He turned. "Mm?"

"Do monsters exist?" Rose then thought about how stupid that sounded, but the Doctor beat her to it." His brow furrowed.

"'Course they do. You know they do."

She sighed. "_Those _monsters in the movie, they don't exist."

"Oh. No. Mind you, that purple one... I met a fellow a lot like him. Said he knew where the circuit breaker was, but halfway there he right disappeared on me. Literally vanished in front of my eyes."

Rose sighed again, tolerant of the fact that the Doctor sometimes rambled when he got nervous. It made her feel bolder when he got all scientific. Rose paused in thought. Maybe he got geeky when nervous for the same reason, to embolden himself as a way to relieve the tension. "So what you're saying is, you want me to just..." She lifted her head and gestured with her hand as best she could, "...go with it. Act like I'm okay with you..." she motioned down her body with her head, "...there."

The Doctor didn't flinch, at least not outwardly. She had every right to not want him "there," but it still hurt. And, if he were honest, he was _disappointed_. "All I'm saying," he began slowly, "is that you don't need to be ashamed because of me. I release you from it. It doesn't have to mean anything if you don't want it to."

He resisted the urge to edit himself. He hadn't meant to add those last six words, but they had slipped out, and he was trying very hard not to ramble off more and dig himself into a bigger hole.

Rose searched the Doctor's face. She didn't think she could look away if she wanted to. She hung on his expression, awaiting the slightest hint that would give her the strength to ask. "Do _you _want it to?"

The effect was instantaneous. The Doctor's eyes softened even as his throat struggled.

It was a "yes" or "no" question. She was asking—_directly _asking for an honest answer, and his honest answer was "yes." The part of him that wanted to run away, to take the easy way out, to say "no" and deal with the pain of it later seemed safer, simpler.

But it wouldn't be simpler, not for her. Telling Rose he didn't want more with her would make it more difficult for her to let go, and therefore sabotaging his plan. Not that he wanted her to go along with it just so the plan would succeed. No, he would never ask her to do that.

Would he?

Rose seemed to be implying she didn't want him to touch her. Part of her had to want it though, as he was quite sure he knew the reason he was able to get to the centre of the effigermus, why it had _pulsed_. He could understand it opening partway just by simple stimulation, even if she... well, if she didn't want more with him. Then again, he wasn't exactly an expert when it came to women, let alone human women.

Even though it was a "yes" or "no" question, it was all very complicated, and the Doctor felt completely out of his element. So, he did what he did best.

He cheated.

"Do you _want _me to want it to?"

Rose rolled her eyes and let her head drop to the bed. "God, Doctor."

"It's not exactly a simple question," he complained.

"It sounds pretty simple to me. Do you want it to mean something or not?"

"I want it to mean enough that the plan works, yes. _You_, though—you've got to want it, or at least be okay with it. You consciously have to be gung-ho about it. You physiologically have what it takes, no problem, but subjectivity can sabotage the whole process. Has, actually."

Rose's tone rose defensively. "Are you saying I haven't got a choice?"

"No! No, not at all. I mean, no, that's not what I'm saying. Yes, you've got a choice—"

"—But if I don't want it, we've got no way out. So no, you're not giving me a choice."

The Doctor's voice rose in pitch as well. "I am! That's why I'm asking!"

"I asked first!"

The Doctor cocked his jaw, staring off as he thought back. Blimey, she was right. New tactic. "What matters is what you want, not what I want."

Rose pulled in an open-mouthed, exasperated breath. "But _your _plan depends on it. There's a right and wrong answer."

"I'm not saying that."

"Yes, you are!"

"I just want you to be honest! If you didn't want there to be anything more between us _before _you had a wander and got yourself captured—"

"So not only do I not have a choice, but it's my _fault _in the first place, now?"

"God, you're stubborn, Rose," the Doctor growled. "Just be _honest_!"

"Says the bloke who blatantly avoided the question!"

The Doctor curled his upper lip and spoke slowly with restraint. "I think you'll find, Rose, that I _implied _a question first."

"Whatever you like! Maybe I need a little help? I know what I want or don't want, but I need to know what you want without your _knowing _what I want or don't want so I know that it's actually—"

"Yes!"

Rose paused. "What?"

He'd said it. His voice became very quiet. "You heard me."

"Yes, you want to... whatever—"

"—Yeah," he said quickly, quietly.

"'Kay..." Rose turned to ponder the ceiling for about ten seconds, then looked back at him. "Sorry, but... I need to be sure. Yes, you want to..."

"Yes, I want more. With you." He fought a flush that invaded his skin in response to his own words.

"And you're not just saying that. Because of this—"

"—No," he shook his head, slowly with conviction.

Now that things were clear, Rose found herself staring intently at him. The Doctor stared right back at her, his expression hard and guarded.

Her heart pounded. With his quiet words, the Doctor had just opened up a whole new world for them.

It had always been there, in his flirts and strong grip on her hand, the heated looks and adoring smiles. Oh, she loved his smile. Rose felt that she could have easily fallen for him from the moment they first met, but when he had told her he was over nine-hundred years old, she had to wonder how he could possibly settle on her, an average little shoppe girl from London. He had seen worlds and species she had yet to dream of, could calculate in a science the entire human race would kill for, and the Doctor had chosen her to be his companion.

But wasn't she just that, one of his many companions? Someone to show the universe off to, someone to talk to and impress?

There was always the possibility he meant what she inferred him to mean day after day, an alien interacting through his alien customs and habits she could only see through her human perspective in ways that could be taken as either platonic or something more.

Now, suddenly, in this stupid little back room shackled to stupid little beds, she had her answer.

The Doctor's eyes didn't let up. "What about you?"

Ah, he still didn't know, was preparing himself for either answer. Beneath his hard gaze, he was vulnerable. Any annoyance Rose had towards the Doctor evaporated.

"Yeah."

His guard cracked just a bit. "I'm sorry Rose, but I need _you _to be clear, too."

"Yes, I want more with you, too." She wet her lips, her throat going dry, and she felt like nothing more than a little girl in this moment. "Always have. I want to be with you forever."

The Doctor didn't move, but the mask fell away as if her words had been magic. His eyes roved her face as he let slip what he was feeling, his thoughts ghosting across his expression. With their new understanding, Rose allowed those looks to penetrate now that she knew they meant something.

But then they disappeared.

"Okay." The Doctor turned his attention back to the ceiling. Confused by his sudden cool, Rose watched him until she was sure his mind had shifted elsewhere.

They both lay there, staring off in their own thoughts.

After a while, the Doctor broke the silence, his tone emphatic. "You know what sounds really good right now?"

Rose looked over. "What?"

"Chips. There's a place round the corner, but I don't think I want to go there now. Probably rubbish like this place, anyway. How 'bout that place on Moesh Two in the seventy-eighth century?"

The happiest of smiles transformed Rose's face. "Yeah, sounds good to me."

They were going to be all right.

-^^-W-^^-

"Mm... nothing."

Rose rolled her head towards him. "Nothing what?"

The Doctor had his head back trying to look beyond the headrest, or perhaps at the tentacles. "These things, these..." he met her eyes and grinned, speaking widely with his teeth apart as he often did, "'Dalek-wannabes,' as you call them." Rose grinned, too. "I get nothing from them, haven't at all, which is why I couldn't even tell they were alive. They've got barriers up. Makes sense really, considering."

"What, you mean like psychic stuff?"

He nodded. "If you like."

"Emotional energy, and they've got barriers."

The Doctor wrinkled his nose. "Well, yeah. It's... complicated."

It was a normal thing for the Doctor to understand something that was a complete mystery to her. Sometimes he would explain it anyway and lose her, but other times he would just not bother. Yes, he was always telling her she was brave and brilliant, but in cases like these she couldn't help but feel stupid and small.

"What's wrong?" the Doctor asked softly.

Rose looked at him, startled. She must have been showing more on her face than she realised. She shrugged. "I just... wanna understand."

"Understand what?"

She glanced up. "Them, I guess. I dunno, I can't do stuff with my mind like you can."

The Doctor gazed at her and furrowed his brows. "Can you feel anything from yours?"

Rose shook her head, having thought the answer obvious. "No."

"Close your eyes," he instructed softly. She stared in confusion at the Doctor a moment then did as he told her. "Take a deep breath. Let it out slowly." Rose breathed deeply, relaxing. "Imagine the creature before you. It doesn't matter so much what it looks like, but what you feel when it's there."

His voice lulled her, soothed her. Rose thought she could listen to him go on about anything in that soft tone and she would find it comforting.

The Doctor paused, watching her face. He could see her eyes moving slowly under her eyelids. Finally, they stopped. "See it?" Rose nodded carefully. "Good." He smiled softly. "You just said 'Hello.'"

Rose opened her eyes and looked to him in bewilderment. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yep! If its barriers were down, it would have heard you, and possibly even said hello back."

"It's just that simple?"

"Well," the Doctor cocked his head, "there are plenty of variables to account for. What you did works for a creature capable of projecting, capable of listening. It wouldn't work on most humans, for example."

Rose searched the Doctor's face. "Would it work on you?"

He fixed his eyes to hers. Her question caught him off guard. The Doctor attempted to read her face, searching for any specific meaning beyond her words.

Rose thought she might burn with the way the Doctor studied her, looked into her. She saw again in his soulful eyes a rare vulnerability, a visible indication that he was reaching out to her, and Rose decided she would make it her mission to find each and every way to get him to do it again and again.

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah."

A warmth bubbled inside, and Rose understood in that moment. It wasn't that she was stupid or small at all, he just knew more than she did. And that was okay, because all she had to do was ask and he would show her the universe.

The Doctor's expression cooled somewhat, his voice still soft. "Anything else?"

"Um..." Rose snapped out of it herself and thought back to their original topic. "What about... the opposite? What about barriers?"

"What about them?"

"Can I do those, too?"

Rose was disheartened to see the Doctor cool a bit more.

"Yes, you can." When she didn't respond, the Doctor went on. "You already know how to do the simplest of them. You do it all the time."

Rose frowned, appalled at herself. "I do?"

"Sure. So do I." He swallowed nervously, wondering why he had admitted that just then, but it was true and obvious enough, he supposed. "You don't want someone getting too close, so you change the subject. Misdirect. If you were speaking in images, it would be like closing a door, asking politely to move on to something else."

A small smile stole across Rose's lips. "Or sometimes not so politely."

The Doctor returned the smile. "Sometimes not so politely," he conceded.

"What about stronger barriers?"

The smile faded away. He took a moment to answer. "That... takes practice."

Rose waited. Finally she nodded. "Yeah, okay. Go on."

The Doctor wet his lips. "Rose, if I have any say in it, you'll never have to face that."

"But if I did?" Why didn't he want to tell her? It made her want to know even more. "What would I do?"

The Doctor paused again, and for a moment, Rose thought he wasn't going to tell her. Then his gaze became hard, his tone razor-sharp. "You have to hide."

A chill ran up Rose's spine. She didn't yet know what he meant, but the words themselves were so _cold_.

"Your consciousness—the part of you that thinks, that reasons—that stays, but the part of you that feels, that dreams—your subconscious mind. You have to retreat to your very core, the place that keeps you alive, keeps your hearts beating." The Doctor realised his slip, that he had made it clear he was speaking about himself. It didn't matter now. He had to finish, so he made his words very clear. "To have a strong mental barrier up, you have to be able to watch your family die and feel _nothing_."

They stared at each other in silence. Rose was speechless. She wanted to say she was sorry, that she had no idea what she was asking. She wanted to comfort him for his loss, to tell him that she was there for him if he needed her.

She wanted to thank him, for making her stronger now and all the ways he had since they had met, but she said nothing.

It was then Rose jumped and the screen flashed to life.


	4. A New High

This chapter has been edited _slightly_ for the rating system. The full version can be found on Teaspoon.

* * *

><p>Rose's eyes widened, and she jumped. "Oh, God."<p>

The Doctor, having been through this once before now, recognised her reaction. They knew this would be coming. "Okay. Okay." He studied Rose, seeing she was clearly nervous. "Just stay calm," he said, speaking to himself as much as he was her.

"I'm not ready for this, Doctor!"

"Yes, you are!" he replied automatically. "And even if you weren't, it's happening, and there's little we can do about it. The idea is to _make _yourself ready." As he watched, he could see Rose wasn't taking to his words. She began to hyperventilate, to panic. "Hey. Remember what I said," he implored her. "I release you from any shame. I want this for you."

She nodded genuinely and offered him a pained expression. "I know, but why does it have to be like this?"

The Doctor grimaced, sharing the same pain in his hearts. "I know. Don't think about that, okay? Everything's fine. _We're_ fine. Just relax. Relax." Rose's breathing evened out and she nodded again. "That's it."

"Doctor?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm scared."

Oh, how he hated to have this happen to her. "Quite right you are to be. It's okay to be scared. But I'm here. With you." The Doctor forcefully removed the worry from his voice, speaking calmly and willing Rose to change her perspective. The tone of how they proceeded from here was very important. "...Just you and me. Here, together. Good feelings." He darted his eyes towards the levels on Rose's electronic display.

Rose wanted to tell him the main reason she was scared was because of _him_, but his voice was soothing, and she nodded again. She had to do this. There was a few seconds of reprieve as the Doctor in the recording left her alone, speaking to Sariel. Rose used the opportunity to get a reign on her fear and her galloping heart rate.

The Doctor watched her as she lay fairly calmly. He really had no idea what he should be doing. "What do you need?"

Rose wet her lips as she considered. "I need... to know you're with me. Need you to talk."

_Well, that's a change from last time_ he thought, but he nodded, eager to do what he could. He could do that. "Okay. Yeah, of course." He had to talk her through it, encourage her constantly, so she knew he was with her on this.

The process started again, and Rose fought to speak. "There's so much... we haven't said..."

"I know. But we'll have plenty of time later after we get out of here. I promise, we'll work it out. Right now, just concentrate on the physical."

It occurred to him that the screen might actually be a distraction at this point. Since Rose was dependent on the Doctor and his approval, the innocent visage of him being completely ignorant on the screen may not match up with his words and actually cause a conflict. If he was right, the first go was shocking enough to leave plenty in her mind to work from.

"Close your eyes, Rose. Just listen to my voice and feel."

Rose closed her eyes. The Doctor thought the screen might very well prove to be useful as a guide to what Rose must be feeling, as a way to know what words he should choose next. At this point first time around for her, the Doctor had been caressing the petals lightly, attempting to coax them open. He watched her closely.

Rose was doing her very best to turn herself around, to make this work. The Doctor was counting on her to get them out of this-only she could. Despite the factors holding Rose back, the Doctor was with her. It was his voice and his touch (however indirectly), and she was in no shortage of experience being aroused by him. That combined with her nonexistent sex life allowed Rose to believe that she could do this, however unfair the situation.

The petals finally opened enough, and the Doctor had started with the strong, circular movements to opposite surfaces of the petals, which had been totally unnecessary for cleaning and purely to encourage the flower to bloom faster. Rose's breathing sped up, and the Doctor could see her starting to squirm. "That's right, Rose. If you want to move, it's okay." He didn't want her to hold back on his account. "More than okay. I want to see you move. I want to see what you're feeling." His own breathing began to reflect hers. He dropped his voice. "Show me, Rose."

Rose whimpered and let go a little more.

The Doctor grinned widely despite himself, watching her begin to slowly move on the bed, almost not believing what he was getting to see, what he was now _allowed _to see. "Yes, lovely. Oh, you're beautiful, Rose."

Rose laughed.

"You are! You're so beautiful to me. I..."

_I love you._

The words caught in his throat, true words but ones he wasn't ready to say. Not like this. Instead, he latched on to something he _could _admit. In awe, he offered, "I'm loving this."

Rose gasped, the truth of his words and richness of his tone manifesting as raw electricity in her veins.

Encouraged, he went on, his voice steadily taking on a rougher quality that reflected his mounting emotions. "I'm not just there, Rose. I'm everywhere. All over your skin." Rose arced back on her shoulders and sighed, her formfitting top rising up and giving the Doctor a peek at her creamy belly just above the hem of her jeans. Rose was now fully following his suggestions.

God, he wanted to touch her like this.

He glanced at the readout on Rose's bed. It was working. Bolstered by both her acceptance and its seeming success, the Doctor began to get bolder with his words.

His ignorant self on the screen began to delve into the second layer of petals, his fingers never stopping. What did Rose need? She needed to know he was with her, that he wasn't just observing. She needed to know he was _feeling_. "Oh, I can imagine what I would be feeling now. I want to feel more of you." He watched as Rose reveled in his words and indirect touch. "I love what I'm doing to you," he admitted rather selfishly and thought it perhaps too much, but he was amazed at how well she was responding to his words.

He noticed Rose was peeking at the screen at times, and he was about to tell her to stop, but he reconsidered a moment and finally understood. Rose wanted to _see _him, too.

The oblivious Doctor on the screen began dipping his tongue into the flower, and the Doctor lying next to Rose realised things were about to progress quickly. He began to breathe deeply as he imagined taking part himself, pleasing Rose directly. The Doctor didn't pant harder for her benefit, but he didn't attempt to quiet himself either, hoping she would hear from him the weight of what this was doing to him, that he was very much aroused and with her in spirit.

The Doctor closed his eyes, remembering the scent of the effigermus, the way it encompassed his whole world in that moment. He had stroked and stroked with his tongue, the rhythm of it intoxicating. Oh, if that was anything like what Rose would be...

And then he sensed the difference. The scent wasn't from his memory. He could smell _her_.

He opened his eyes and looked to her. The Doctor was startled to see Rose gazing back at him. Her eyes were dilated, dark pools of desire, and a thrill shot through him. The Doctor held nothing back, adoring Rose with his own heated gaze.

Rose had fed from his words throughout, but she had only been looking to the screen when opening her eyes. Seeing him now—chest swelling and falling rapidly, flushed, gorgeous and wild with eyes so dark and without reflection—shattered her restraint. Seeing the Doctor aroused was the most erotic thing she had ever seen. Combined with what the effigermus fed her, Rose cried out and was sent right over the edge.

"Oh yes, Rose!" the Doctor's voice shook as he watched Rose. "Oh, yes!"

Blimey, what had he just done?

He had just made love to Rose from across the room.

Rose took several deep breaths before she could verbalise desperately, "I want you here, Doctor."

The Doctor growled something incoherent and pulled his restraints tight as his eyes raked over her. "You have no idea." He was actually salivating.

There was an alarmed buzz and the Doctor's restraints clicked open. He looked down in surprise, but only for a second—then he was up like a shot, peeling the ends of the tentacles off his head. Rose stared in surprise.

"How did you get free?" Rose complained jealously.

"Safety override. Stuffed it right up!" When he reached Rose's bedside, he extended a hand, running his fingertips down the side of her face.

"Well, what about me?"

The Doctor grinned manically. "Oh, I should think so." Then the humour drained from his face as quickly as it had come and was replaced by an almost desperate hunger. The Doctor descended on her mouth, pouring all his pent-up passion into her. It was a sweet release to finally touch her and in such a profound way he never had before, at least directly. He groaned helplessly into her mouth.

Rose's restraints clicked open. The Doctor pulled back to look before meeting Rose's now amorous expression.

"I must say," the Doctor began, feeling overwhelmed, "this is quite a shock to my system. I... haven't felt..."

Hands now free, Rose grabbed the Doctor's head and pulled him down to her. They kissed again, and the Doctor fought the urge to climb right up into the bed on top of her.

He pulled away from her suddenly, noisily. "What do you say we be rid of this blasted shoppe, hey?"

Rose readily nodded her agreement and, with the help of the Doctor to steady her, slid off the bed.

They made for the door, but stopped when it started to open on its own.

The two guards entered first, and the Doctor and Rose were forced to step back. The Doctor extended a shielding arm, attempting to manoeuvre Rose behind him.

Sariel entered, and she didn't look happy.

The Doctor's body was still humming and he forced down what he could and launched into familiar territory, suddenly all insincere apology. "Erp. We broke your machine. Sorry."

"Apparently, I read you wrong, Doctor. You lied about your relationship and I didn't see it."

"Nah, that's just me. I'm..." He scratched the back of his head. "Well, spontaneous." He shifted his eyes behind his shoulder at Rose, and they shared a secret smile. "And, well, we're quite the unusual pair." The Doctor resumed the offensive. "Have you even tried this on an actual _couple_? 'Cause from what I can tell, if you dropped the whole kidnapping lark and kept your volunteers in check," he jabbed a thumb behind him, "these things could be very happy." He grinned. "Just like the people."

"You know nothing, Doctor," Sariel snapped. She motioned to them with her head. "Take them out the back. We're done with them."

The Doctor quickly backed away further, his leg tangling with Rose's and they almost both went down, but Rose kept her feet and got out of the way. As Gelry and Nash advanced, the Doctor gripped the edge of the tank to the creature that had fed from him. "Sariel, isn't it? Are you sure you want to bet on my knowing nothing?" Her guards hesitated, and she held a hand up to stop them. "For example, if I'm not mistaken, this is a silicon-hydrate solution. These creatures have developed a dependency to it, am I right?" He shook the tank a little. The glass gave a satisfying rattle against its stand, the solution sloshing dangerously close to the edge. "Sudden exposure to too much nitrogen, and..."

Sariel's face went slack, her reaction confirming the Doctor's assumption. "Don't you dare."

"Let us go. I'll deal with the Bosthinats myself, but I'll leave you alone to find yourself more honest work. I'll even protect you from them if you fear their retribution if it comes to it. Just let us go."

"You can't stop the Bosthinats!" She laughed. "Their whole operation spans planets!"

Rose looked to the Doctor for his response. He was giving Sariel his "Oncoming Storm" face. "Planets, galaxies, universes, entire histories. That's never stopped me before when I've wanted something ended. I only start what I intend to finish."

Sariel's confidence wavered. "What do you mean, 'histories'?"

"Oh, didn't I say?" he continued. By this point Rose expected his tone to lighten somewhat, but he was still speaking in anger, in warning. No one but Rose would know him well enough to tell, but it was clear to her—they were backed into a corner and the Doctor was afraid. "I'm a Time Lord. You kidnapped the wrong man, Sariel!"

Sariel's mind was clearly racing, weighing her options. Then she narrowed her eyes at the Doctor. "If you're going to stop the Bosthinats, then why should I care at all what you do with the korwi?" She indicated the creature in the tank he was holding on to. "I'll be out of a job before long if what you say is true, and they'll be much more angry with me for letting you go than if I were to let you kill it."

Rose could see the Doctor swallow nervously as his bravado cracked, the thin skin of his throat working in sharp profile from her angle. "Right." His eyes darted from one guard to the other in anticipation. Gelry smirked.

A loud _BEEP _made everyone in the room start. Sariel turned to a panel by the door and blew out a breath. Before she pressed the button, she shot an accusing glare at the Doctor.

"This is Sariel."

"_Our systems show your korwi units have overloaded. Explain!"_

"It was the new subjects. They progressed much more quickly than I anticipated, but I can assure you-"

"_Those korwi will be useless for the next _month_, Sariel!"_

"But they've produced plenty in just one day. Surely that makes up for it!"

There was a pause on the other side of the communications line as it sounded like whoever had been speaking to Sariel was listening to someone else in the room. Everyone was standing and just listening. The Doctor saw worry in Sariel's dark blue eyes when she briefly met his gaze.

"_What are these subjects of yours?"_

"The female is human," Sariel began seeming more at ease, probably happy to have something she could offer. "One of the purest I've seen, actually," she added with interest. "The male is, well I thought he was a mutant, but he calls himself a 'Time Lord.'"

An unintelligible female voice could be heard over the comm, and the voice that had been speaking to Sariel continued a few moments later. _"Sariel, you're being ordered to deliver the subjects to Bosthinatia Prime."_

"What?" Sariel exclaimed.

"_I suggest you leave immediately. The faster you get here, the less your pay will suffer."_

The comm ended. Silence reigned as everyone looked to Sariel, waiting for what she would say. Finally, she looked up to the guards. "Take them to the back, but not to the disposary." Her eyes settled on the Doctor, her face solemn. "Take them to the ship and fire it up."

-^^-W-^^-

The alley behind the shoppe was private and walled off. Other than a couple of rubbish bins, it was empty. Gelry moved forward to the gate and unlocked it while Nash stood behind the Doctor and Rose, their hands bound behind them and Nash's weapon trained on Rose's back. Gelry swung open the gate and took Rose by the arm roughly.

"Easy!" the Doctor cautioned.

They exited the alley to a back lot. Several personal spaceworthy craft were parked, probably belonging to the nearby businesses. No one was around, and people probably never were unless needing to access their own vessels. They were marched toward a shiny red one.

"A car park for spaceships," Rose said. "A... spaceship park."

The Doctor shrugged. "Lots of interplanetary travel through this place. Lots of different species, lots of trade. I'm sure everyone on Chosthu's got a space hopper."

"Enough talk," Nash said, pulling the Doctor by the arm.

Gelry climbed a small ramp followed by Rose, the Doctor and Nash bringing up the rear. Gelry threw a few switches in a panel. The lights blinked on and the ship began humming to life.

"Back here," Nash instructed as he pulled the Doctor towards the rear of the vessel. They approached a doorway. "In there."

The Doctor looked over Nash's shoulder, keeping Rose in sight. "Not without her."

"Relax, lover boy, she's coming," Gelry called from behind Rose.

"I enter with her or not at all," the Doctor worded clearly.

Rose caught up, and the guards allowed them to enter the small room together. It was empty, some sort of utility room. They were made to sit, their restraints unlocked and rebound around a pipe running horizontally about the Doctor's chest height along one wall.

"I'll go get our stuff," Nash said. "I don't think we'll be coming back for a while."

"Yeah, get mine, too. Don't forget the box under my cot."

"Don't hurt them, Gelry," Nash warned.

"I'll behave," Gelry jeered at Nash. "Get going."

Nash's heavy footfalls could be heard bounding down the ramp as he exited the space hopper. The Doctor repositioned himself to face Rose, and they slid their cuffs along the pipe until Rose could intertwine her fingers with his.

"So!" the Doctor began brightly. "Ever been to Bosthinatia, Gelry? What's it like? You'll have tell us the hot spots, the must-sees."

Gelry smirked unpleasantly, clearly not taking to the Doctor's small talk. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, making a point to stare at the Doctor.

"Right then," the Doctor muttered. "Suit yourself. Gonna be a long trip for you."

"Were you really gonna kill that thing, Doctor? That... korwi, yeah?"

The Doctor dipped his head as she pronounced it correctly. "No. You know I wouldn't have."

Rose nodded in response. A moment later, she asked, "Doctor, what about the TARDIS?"

"I know," he said dejectedly. "Nothing we can do now. It's not going anywhere, though. Don't worry about it, we'll get it later."

Rose nodded again, accepting this, and squeezed his hand.

The Doctor rewarded her with a small commiserative smile. The two of them being in trouble was nothing new, and despite the circumstances, he found himself wanting to kiss her again. They were close enough, but Gelry stood above them watching their every move. He didn't think Rose would like it if he advanced on her with an audience.

The Doctor squinted curiously at Rose. Then again, she might. He really didn't know.

He was looking forward to the possibility of finding out someday.

Besides, if he tried and she refused him, not only would she be embarrassed but his male pride would be irreparably dented.

The Doctor consoled himself that someday he would know Rose well enough to know what she would and wouldn't like, and if he was patient he just might get the opportunity.

Rose studied the Doctor. He was thinking something mischievous, but she didn't know what it was. She returned the look, teasing her upper lip with the tip of her tongue. In response, the Doctor flashed his eyes suggestively at her. Rose felt suddenly hot and broke first, looking up at Gelry.

As the mirth drained from her expression, the Doctor followed her line of sight. Gelry was doing very little to hide the lecherous look on his face.

"I distinctly remember Nash advising you _very intelligently_ to behave."

Footsteps alerted them to someone boarding the ship. A moment later, Sariel appeared in the doorway.

"We'll be off shortly," she told Gelry. Her eyes caught on the two of them sitting closely together and clasping hands. She narrowed her eyes. "If they do anything... 'inappropriate,' you have my permission to give the crafty one a swift kick."

* * *

><p>-^^-W-^^-<p>

A/N: ^-(Time Lord ECG, like it? The first two tones of the heartbeat are the "W" and the last two are the following two carets)

Many thanks to all who have reviewed. If you haven't yet, I invite you to comment on Section 1. Feedback encourages me that the story is being well-received and gives me a reason to keep posting! For those that don't wish to, please enjoy the rest of the story. =)


	5. Bosthinats and a Muramphian

I'm excited to make available the new and complete cover art on my deviantArt (homepage). I spent a lot of time on it, and I think you'll agree it's worth taking a look. ^_~

Section two's focus: Devotion.

* * *

><p>-^^-W-^^-<p>

After the red space hopper settled on the tarmac and powered down, the Doctor and Rose were marched across a sprawling courtyard towards an important-looking stone building.

Gelry led Rose by the arm in a firm grip with his own arm across his chest, putting himself between her and the Doctor. She felt his other hand brush none too lightly across her bum.

"Oi!"

The Doctor looked over immediately and could tell by her eyes and the way Rose squirmed the essence of what he had done. "Hey!"

"What's wrong?" Sariel snapped.

"Tell your man Gelry to keep his hands off," the Doctor ordered irritably.

"Gelry..."

"It's all good, Madame."

The Doctor wasn't satisfied. "Why is he always with Rose? Assign Nash to her, will you?"

Sariel didn't respond, and the subject was dropped.

As they passed through the great open doorway, they were joined by four guards.

Rose studied the natives. They averaged a head taller than the Doctor, wore no clothing (and didn't seem to have a need for it) except for a pendant around their necks. Their skin was a dark green chitin, tough and shiny. Broad shoulders framed a series of ridges that ran down their backs. As she watched one of the guards take the lead, it leaned forward and swayed from side to side as it walked. They didn't appear to have antennae, but Rose wouldn't have been surprised if they did.

"A bit warm and dark, isn't it?" Rose asked.

"The Bosthinats like it that way," Sariel said.

They were directed down dimly-lit corridors until they came to what was very obviously a prison.

As the two front guards opened two neighbouring cells, Sariel's guards unbound their prisoners' hands. The Doctor was pushed towards one cell by Nash while Gelry prodded Rose towards the other.

"Why do we have to be separated?" the Doctor complained as he resisted Nash.

Sariel rolled her eyes. "I would think that would be obvious, Doctor."

Rose followed the Doctor's cue and also resisted and Gelry gave her a shove. She stumbled, and the Doctor was pushed towards his own cell.

"Careful!" the Doctor yelled. The insect-like guards closed the doors behind them.

"You have ten minutes to make yourselves presentable," one of the guards grated. It turned to Sariel. "You will come immediately."

"Of course," Sariel said, and she and her own pair of guards followed two of the others out while two remained with their pair of prisoners.

Rose looked around. There was a sink and toilet in one corner and a cot in the other. "Not exactly the Ritz," she commented dryly and moved to the sink to wash up.

The Doctor heard her, but he didn't know what to say. Rose's plumbing kicked on and, hands in pockets, he found himself wandering towards the sound at his own sink. The sinks seemed to be next to each other, right on opposite sides of the wall, he thought.

He suspected the reason they were still alive was because someone knew what a Time Lord was. The Doctor didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but they were on their way to find out.

It generally tended to be bad though.

Ten minutes later and more or less refreshed, the Doctor and Rose were led back through the corridors, this time without their hands bound. The only doors to be seen were their own cell doors and the door to the prison proper. The main chamber was an expansive open space in the heart of the building, brighter than the prison but not by much.

It wasn't the walls of bottles of every colour, racks of glass vials and piles of ingredients heaped on every outward surface that would otherwise spark his curiosity. It wasn't the carts of korwi residing in their tanks of solution, Sariel with her two guards standing off to the side, or even the five armor-skinned Bosthinats in the centre of the room that first drew the Doctor's attention.

It was the tall, lean and graceful female alien that stood in front of the Bosthinats that made the Doctor stop dead in his tracks.

She had soft, beautifully shimmering skin, the colour of rust and bananas and marmalade. Her mane of lighter, yellow-orange hair flowed out behind her like fox tails. In front of the tough, dark Bosthinats, she practically seemed to glow. Her limbs and torso had an elongated appearance, and while she wore enough clothing to be considered modest, it too was a golden orange and the way it clung to her did little good in taming the eyes.

"Muramphian," the Doctor whispered.

Rose tore her eyes off the woman to glance up at the Doctor. He seemed completely entranced. She dropped her gaze, discouraged. Two steps forward, one step back.

Or maybe three steps back.

The Muramphian turned toward them and began to saunter towards them. Rose stared. Even she had to admit that even though her movements were so _alien_, Rose had never seen a woman walk so sensually in her life.

"You are the Time Lord," the Muramphian practically sang in a deep voice, her almond eyes fixed on the Doctor.

He swallowed as she approached. "I am."

She stopped short, somehow still gracefully, and looked to either side of them both. "Fools. Remove his clothing."

"What?" the Doctor squeaked.

Rose was pulled away from the Doctor while the other guard began tugging at his coat.

"Just the outer garment," the Muramphian specified. "He has technology you do not understand and can use it against you." As his coat was pulled back, she eyed his suit jacket. "Empty his pockets and put anything you find with his coat."

When the Doctor was sure the Bosthinat wasn't going to strip him down naked, he relinquished his coat. A bulky, segmented hand found the Doctor's sonic screwdriver in his chest pocket and removed it. He watched it go longingly before he turned to face the woman, his dignity intact.

"I am Ambassador Lura of the Moon of Muramphe."

"I'm the Doctor." He reached for Rose's hand, and she automatically took it out of habit. "This is Rose."

Lura looked down at Rose a moment before her eyes passed back to his. "A human. She is of no consequence."

"Not to you, maybe. Why did you bring us here? What do you want with me?"

Lura smiled gently at the Doctor, amused. "I like you, Time Lord. Straight to the point." She turned her back and began to wander. Slowly.

Rose checked the Doctor's face. His eyes were _definitely _not on the point.

"As you're one of Sariel's, I assume you've delighted in one of my effigermi?"

The Doctor pulled himself up a little taller and took a deep breath, gripping Rose's hand a bit tighter as he put on a front. "We have, yes," he said brightly. "Curious creation. I'd be interested to learn how you made it."

"Are you familiar with the Carrionites, Doctor?"

The lightness in his tone disappeared. "Of course, and I'm familiar with the fact that you worship a race that no longer exists."

Lura fluidly whipped around, the angle of her head fixed to the Doctor as her voice filled with venom. "They do exist! Just not in _this _realm. We hear them calling to us across the ether, calling to be freed."

"Well wherever they are, they can't come back here," the Doctor assured her clearly.

"They were no more aggressive than Humans are today, and yet _they _breed and spread unchecked!"

"Do you even know where they are?"

"We do not, but it does not matter," Lura insisted, her movements slowing as she calmed and smiled. "They have returned before, and they can again."

The Doctor's brow furrowed. "Returned? What are you talking about?"

Her grin stretched further as she again began wandering to nowhere in particular. "Thousands of years ago, three of them did. I'm surprised, Time Lord, that you don't know of such an important event." The Doctor stared at her as his mind raced. "But they were thwarted by the Man with No Name. Since my sisters learned of this event, we have been looking for ways to facilitate their return. Muramphians aren't able to use the power of words as our gods are, so we cannot do what they did then." She stopped and faced the Doctor. "But I believe now that we can restore them through a different science."

"What sort of science?"

"The Time Lords existed when the Carrionites were still of their true realm. Time Lord science can bring them back. That is why you've come to me."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows at Lura. "I'm not doing anything of the sort."

The two stood still and staring for several moments. Lura moved first, sauntering towards the Doctor until she was right in front of him, so close that her nose almost touched his.

Rose bristled, but she made no move towards Lura. It wasn't likely she planned to hurt the Doctor, so she watched to see how the Doctor would react.

Lura stood practically against him, no more than a few inches apart the entire length of her body. She raised a hand to toy with the strands of hair at the side of his head.

"You may be a god, but even gods can become confused."

The Doctor moved his eyes, remaining very still. "Funny way to treat a 'god,'" he murmured.

Lura's eyes dropped to his mouth. "Muramphians are all female, just like the Carrionites were. We have no males. I've always been... _fascinated_ with them."

Refusing to be intimidated, the Doctor tightened his grip on Rose's hand and wet his lips steadily under Lura's gaze. "Well it's a good thing there are so many _others_ in just this system to choose from. I'm sure plenty would be quite receptive."

Lura pouted seductively. "Oh, but this entire planet is without. I've been here so long, and I'm oh so very curious." She smiled.

Rose, having taken the squeeze of her hand as a request for help, decided she had had enough. "Well it's a shame that your curiousity will have to wait, isn't it?" she said as she straightened up flush against the Doctor's side. "He's not available." Rose gave Lura her own best pout, and the Doctor suppressed a smile.

Lura looked down to Rose as if noticing she was there for the first time and backed away slowly from the pair. She smiled at Rose. "Yes, I can see why the korwi had a problem with you." Lura looked to the guards. "Hold them."

Before either could react, the guards had gripped the Doctor and Rose from behind by the arms. Rose struggled but only for a moment. Lura approached again and snipped a small sample of hair from the Doctor.

"What are you doing?" the Doctor asked, confused.

Lura turned to Rose and cut a small lock of hair from her as well. She looked back to the Doctor. "You'll have the night to come to a decision, Time Lord. If you are still... _confused_ in the morning, I'll see what I can do about helping you see more clearly."

-^^-W-^^-

The Bosthinat guards locked the cells behind the Doctor and Rose and made their way out of the prison. The lamps on the walls were just as bright as before, but it might as well have been a night setting.

Rose paced her cell as she tried to wrap her mind around what all had happened. She wasn't sure what to feel, what to think. Yes they were imprisoned, their lives were in jeopardy and the TARDIS wasn't even on the same planet as they were, but that was practically normal for her. Except for the TARDIS bit. No, that _did_ worry her. If they escaped, they would have to somehow secure transport on a planet full of insect people that probably didn't look very kindly on squishy types.

What worried her more, though, was where she stood with the man in the next room over.

"Rose, come here." She turned and spotted the Doctor's hand waving at her in the corridor from his cell. "Can you reach?"

"Think so." Rose knelt down and extended her arm through the bars of her cell. The separation between cells appeared to be only a few inches thick. Pulling her arm back through, Rose sat down and made herself more comfortable before reaching out again and clasping the Doctor's hand.

"There we go. Not so bad now, hey?"

"Yeah. Guess so."

The Doctor frowned. "You all right?"

"Yeah, 'course I am."

The Doctor squeezed her hand. Perhaps Rose was just tired, or maybe she was fretting about the TARDIS. He stared hard at the dark wall as he became absorbed in his own thoughts, self-analysing his actions of the day. His response to Lura had caught him off guard. Yes, she was beautiful and a fascinating species to look at. He had found quite a few races and creations across the universe that he would call beautiful and appealing in form and function: Jabe of the Forest of Cheem, fifty-first century clockwork droids, and that one lupine wavelength haemovariform to name a few recent examples.

But he hadn't reacted to those like he had Lura today, couldn't have.

"Rose," the Doctor began, her name out of his mouth before he could tell himself it wasn't really a thought he wanted to verbalise.

"Yeah?"

Bugger. Well, here goes. "I'm... not your average bloke."

Rose took a moment to let his comment sink in. "Oh, I dunno."

The Doctor frowned. He hadn't expected that response. "I... can't really explain my... the way I acted with Lura." He paused then added unnecessarily, "The Muramphian."

Rose pushed out her lower lip. "S'not that hard to explain, really."

His brow furrowed further. "Rose, are you..." he deliberated over the word, "...jealous?"

_No, 'course not_, Rose prepared in her mind. She wasn't sure where the impulse to suppress the automatic response came from. Perhaps it came from the same place that had transformed humiliation into passion, allowing her to overcome propriety and seize upon what really mattered.

The Doctor smirked slightly in the silence. "Rose?"

Absolute honesty.

"Yeah. I am."

The smirk drained from the Doctor's face.

Her own words scared her and Rose retreated, pulling her hand out of his and into her cell. "But I shouldn't be, 'cause nothin' says just because I want something with you means I get to have you all to myself."

"Rose... you insult me."

Rose made a face. "Pardon?"

"Do you _really _think you have anything to be worried about? That I'm going to swan off with some alien I've just met? Do I really make you feel that insecure?"

"You did once."

A pause. "What?"

"Oh, so easy to forget, is it?" Rose surprised herself at how quickly the memories resurfaced, seemingly out of nowhere. "Leaving me on a bloody spaceship in the fifty-first century while taking a one-way ticket to the eighteenth?

The Doctor pondered a moment. "France? Madame de Pomp—"

Oh, dear. Yes, Reinette was another of those beautiful creatures he had come across recently.

"Blimey, Rose. I was saving her life."

"Yeah, you were."

"And there were robots! They were going to do irreparable damage to the timeline."

"Yep."

Another pause. "But this isn't about that, is it? You think I did it because I was in love with her."

Rose didn't respond.

"Rose..." the Doctor whined. He stopped and righted his attitude. "Reinette was... beautiful, yes. Brilliant for her time, prolific, all things I adore. But so are you."

Rose closed her eyes. The words weren't kind, but she didn't stop them. "So you couldn't have her, so you'll do with me."

"Oi, that's not fair!" he protested. "You're not listening to me." He wished he could see her. The Doctor reached for her cell, gripping one of the bars. "Take my hand, Rose." When he didn't feel her after a moment, he added, "Please."

Rose caved and laid her hand on his wrist. He took it, intertwining their fingers.

He thought long and hard on his next statement, but she needed to hear it. "Yes, I could've had something with Reinette. I'll admit that. For a little while, it seemed it would be inevitable. But please understand me, Rose." He squeezed her hand. "I don't regret in the least being given a way back. I would never have stayed with a way out if it meant I could get back to you and get you home. I would never leave you stranded."

"I didn't wanna go home..."

"I... I know that. Now. But that's not the point."

Rose swallowed, her emotions bubbling up in her throat. "But you asked her to come along."

The Doctor nodded to no one. "I did. She was so clever and I wanted to show her the stars. I would never take her from her timeline, though. She wasn't meant to leave hers for long like you were. It wasn't meant to be."

"But you were so _sad_, Doctor." Rose sniffled. "You were so broken."

At her suggestion, the pain came flooding back to him. For a moment, he felt anger towards Rose for being forced to relive the event he had put behind him, but he realised he was being selfish. She needed to know everything. "I failed her. I didn't get to say a proper goodbye, and then she was gone. She waited for me. _For the rest of her life_." The Doctor shut his eyes. "Can you imagine doing that to someone, Rose?"

Rose briefly considered what it would be like if the situation were to happen between her and the Doctor, but the thought was too painful and she pushed it away. His words made sense. Rose shuddered through a heavy sigh, breathing out the pain. She squeezed his hand back. "I'm sorry. For your losing her. For my not understanding."

The Doctor smiled gratefully. "It's all right. What matters is I have you now. And you understand?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"Good."

The pair sat in companionable silence for a minute.

The Doctor made a face. "Besides," he reasoned, "I don't even _like_ Lura."

Rose giggled, the tension melting away.

The Doctor let go of her hand and turned sideways, facing the wall. "Give me your hand a moment."

Rose threaded her arm around to him. She couldn't reach as comfortably to him as he could to her, but she could just put her hand through the bars of his cell.

The Doctor held her forearm with one hand and palmed the back of her hand with his other. He had always loved her hands, soft and strong and fitting oh so perfectly in his. Pressing a soft kiss to her palm, he stroked her wrist and the back of her fingers with his thumbs.

Rose gasped softly, the tender touch both calming and stimulating at the same time. Memories of their passionate kiss and more raced through her mind.

The Doctor folded her hand in his, and he kissed the back of her fingers briefly before guiding her hand back to her. "Get some sleep, Rose. I'll be right here."

Rose didn't think she could sleep after that, but it had been an exhausting day. She didn't want to leave the corner near the Doctor, but the floor was so hard. She looked over to the cot on the far end. Getting to her feet she made her way to the bed, pulled the mattress off, dragged it back to the corner and curled up on top of it.

The Doctor smirked, having worked out what she had done by listening. "Comfy?"

"Yeah."

The Doctor blinked slowly, preparing for a night of rest. "Sweet dreams."


	6. Waking Up on Bosthinatia

Nights were cooler, but not by much. For some reason, it was easier to think in the middle of the night. Not having proxies popping in every hour to break her concentration allowed her to focus on studying new combinations of things and new ways of combining known materials.

That and she couldn't sleep. It wasn't every day Lura secured herself a Time Lord.

As much as she wanted to experiment and play with her new acquisition, there was much at stake. Lura was crafty and had several ideas in mind, but she had to take her time and not spoil her opportunity to be the instigator of The Return.

Lura knew what the Ministers of Muramphe would say. _Bring him here! Let us hex him, coerce him, bewitch him!_ Except that's not what they did, not really. Not without the power of words. Throughout their long history, they had studied and striven to emulate the power of the Carrionites. Their most prolific Scholars of Words had come closer than anyone, but in so doing had warped and shriveled their beautiful forms in the process. They were revered for their progressive efforts, but despite the common goal towards achieving Carrionite power the society as a whole shunned them, for no power was worth sacrificing physical beauty. Muramphe ached for perfection, but one could not find it if part of that perfection were compromised.

"Ambassador, I wonder if you might allow us to try a couple of korwi on them tomorrow?"

Lura sighed gently from where she stood over her bubbling cauldron. "Merchant Berr'ka. I've already explained to you how important the Time Lord is to Muramphe. I think you can find someone else to feed your korwi with."

The Bosthinat official stepped forward, just far enough to be a dark shadow at the edge of her view. "But if what Sariel says is true, they are most unusual with the korwi. Bosthinatia has a right to study it, too."

"_Him_, Berr'ka. The Time Lord is male, just as Sariel and I are female. You must learn to recognise gender if you are to do more successful business outside your world."

Berr'ka clicked in annoyance. "Even so. Sariel is under our employ, not yours. Sariel brought the specimen to us."

"At _my_ request. You would be wise to not forget what I have supplied you, what I have done for your korwi."

"Psst. We can feed our korwi without you. You are not everything to us, Muramphian!"

Lura rounded on the official. The Bosthinat jumped back in surprise, his pendant swinging around his neck. "I may not be, but your trade is not _everything_ to Muramphe, either! If you wish to keep our pact, you will do well to remember my position." She straightened and turned back to her brew. "We have tripled your serum profits. Unless you wish to endanger that gain, your place is to represent Bosthinatia as my aide."

Berr'ka was silent, at least for the moment. So much for avoiding distractions. Lura dipped the ladle into the cauldron and stirred. A smile spread across her face. While it would be a challenge to single-handedly gain the assistance of the Time Lord—no, the _Doctor_ she must learn to call him—Lura assured herself that it was at least going to be entertaining.

-^^-W-^^-

Rose awoke feeling rested but cramped, the remnants of a delicious dream involving the Doctor fading from her thoughts. She was confused for a moment as to why she couldn't feel and hear the TARDIS humming around her. Had they gone home to visit her mum?

She opened her eyes and looked around. Why was she in a bathroom on a dingy old mattress? "Doctor?"

There were the sounds of someone shifting just past the wall by her head. "Good morning, Rose! You okay?"

Rose blinked as events from the past day came back to her. She was in a cell. Unwinding herself, she stretched out her cramped muscles. "Yeah." As good as the dream had been, it didn't compare to waking up to the real thing even though they were imprisoned, and separately at that. "So, when are we travelling to today?"

"Hrmph," the Doctor grunted. "I'll take you anywhere and anywhen but Bosthinatia."

"Mm, sounds good to me." They were silent for a few minutes as Rose thought about the night before. She frowned. "Doctor, why do you suppose she took bits of our hair?"

She could hear him pull in a deep breath. "I dunno, but I'm betting it's not good."

"Mm, that's all you got? _It's not good_..."

"Well I can't know everything, can I?"

"You try, though."

"I do try. That is true."

The morning stretched on, and the guards didn't come for them. "Lura must be busy taking care of business," the Doctor said. "Or letting me sweat on my 'decision.'"

Rose didn't need to ask him what his decision was. "What do you think she'll do to us?"

"I dunno," the Doctor began, "but at risk of repeating myself—"

"—It's not good, yeah. I worked out that much."

Finally, the prison door opened and Rose got to feet. Her heart beat faster as she anticipated being rejoined with the Doctor. A Bosthinatian jaunted towards them, and it wasn't until it was in front of her that she saw it was carrying two steaming plates of food.

"Ooh, I'm starved!"

The insect-like person folded the soft plate and passed it through the vertical bars to her. As it moved on to the Doctor's cell, Rose inspected her breakfast. Surprisingly, it looked and smelled appetising.

"Thank you," the Doctor was saying. "And hello. I'm the Doctor. That's Rose Tyler over there."

It looked at and acknowledged her, its large, faceted eyes multiplying the soft torchlight into hundreds of pinpricks. A thin horizontal gap between its chitinous plates at the end of its short snout appeared to be its mouth, but when it spoke the plates separated along its face all the way back to its jaw. "_Doktor _and _Roze _Tyler."

Rose smiled. "What's your name?"

"Fla'ri'kikitch," the Bosthinat chirped. "You surprise me by asking." It turned its attention back to the Doctor and Rose gingerly picked up something meaty and nibbled experimentally as she stepped closer to the bars to better see the visitor.

"Fla'ri'kikitch," the Doctor returned perfectly. "Ooh, that's fun. Tell me, Fla'ri'kikitch, is this Bosthinatian food?"

Fla'ri'kikitch swayed from side to side. "It is, but I would not eat it. The ambassador requests special food to eat. The ambassador doesn't like what we eat. I was told to get similar food for you."

"It's good," Rose said before biting into a large piece, although she suspected her hunger was partly to blame for its welcome taste. The Bosthinat began to leave.

"Going so soon?" the Doctor said. Rose wished she didn't have a mouthful of food just then, in case she needed to speak to help him keep the visitor from leaving.

"I'm expected back."

"Understandable, yes, but would those expecting you mind terribly if I asked you a question first, Fla'ri'kikitch?" It stopped and turned, now in front of Rose, and the Doctor went on. "Tell me, these korwi. What are they?"

Fla'ri'kikitch immediately turned its head away from the Doctor, and Rose could see into its face. It was one of the more difficult species she had tried to read, but from its demeanor she would say it was reluctant to speak about it. "Korwi... are part of our past."

"How so?"

"The Bosthinats were not always so lonely, Doctor." Fla'ri'kikitch began to sway again. "I think it would be good to not be lonely anymore."

She could hear the pain in its cracking voice. Surprised at how quickly the Doctor had managed to illicit such a powerful response, Rose stopped eating and paid closer attention. "Why are you lonely?"

The insect-like head faced her. "Why do you care?"

Rose hesitated, and her heart rate increased. What she said to this creature could be very important, and she had to take the time to say the right thing. "Because I know what it's like. To feel like somethin's missing from your life. You don't know what it is, but it's there. And I've found it." Her eyes moved briefly to the wall, but of course she couldn't see the Doctor. "I want you to find the same thing, to feel what it's like to be whole."

Fla'ri'kikitch turned its head to the Doctor and back to Rose. It had stopped swaying as Rose was speaking, and now it stood very still, looking at her. "Bosthinats and korwi were once not lonely."

Rose puzzled at the Bosthinat, attempting to make sense of what it meant.

"They were together?" the Doctor offered. "The Bosthinats and korwi, not lonely if together?"

The insect creature twitched its head in response and pointed vaguely behind its head. "Bosthinats evolved. Korwi didn't. We are superior, but we are lonely. I think the korwi are lonely, too." It began to sway again, and its voice got louder, clearly more upset. "I think... I think I would like a korwi. Korwi won't speak to us anymore, though!"

The prison door opened, and Fla'ri'kikitch jumped rather magnificently. The Bosthinat hurried down the corridor, and Rose could hear angry clicks coming from the entrance.

After the slamming of the door echoed down the corridor and silence returned, Rose stood for several moments in thought.

"I'm thinking there are probably a lot of Bosthinats that feel the same way as Fla'ri'kikitch," the Doctor said finally. "Seems like a taboo topic. Did you get that, too?"

Rose nodded to no one. "Yeah. S'like they never talk about it. Maybe they should."

"You're right. Maybe they should."

Unfolding the forgotten plate, Rose picked up another meaty thing. "What do you suppose breakfast is made of?" she asked before popping it into her mouth. She was well aware by asking she was risking not liking the answer, but after visiting so many systems and their planets in varied points in time, Rose was pretty sure she could take even the worst news.

Rose heard the Doctor's own plate shifting. "Hm, let's see." A pause. "Definitely meat. Cooked. Although... no, not even remotely bovine. Reptilian?"

"Mm." She cocked her head. "Not bad for alligator. Or something equally as big by the look of it." She took a smaller bite so she could keep talking. "What do you think the Bosthinats eat?"

"Now that we probably _don't_ want to know. Although it could be something as boring as grass, I suppose."

The pair concentrated on their meals for a few minutes before Rose picked up on their previous topic. "He seems nice, though," Rose insisted. "Flaury... Flah..."

"Fla'ri'kikitch," the Doctor pronounced clearly.

"Fla'ri... kikitch."

"And it's not 'he,' it's 'it.'"

Rose frowned. "Really? How can you tell?"

"Why'd you call it 'he'?" the Doctor asked, his mouth now clearly full.

"I dunno. I guess... 'it' didn't look like a 'she.'"

The Doctor made an amused sound in his throat.

It was difficult for Rose to judge how much time passed before their two guards came for them. She stood and couldn't help wondering if she'd be able to sneak a hug before facing whatever fate awaited them. They weren't given restraints, Rose was happy to see, but she did note that her guard was careful to keep a firm hold on her arm as she and the Doctor were marched down the corridor towards the main chamber.

-^^-W-^^-

The Doctor was eager to see the Muramphian again. He wanted to get the confrontation over with one way or another as he had been going half crazy in his cell just waiting. Part of him was eager, though, because she was just so interesting to watch _move_.

Lura was off to the side of the chamber at one of the long tables piled with herbs and spices, dried grains and flowers, bundles of fibers and pouches of powders. The Doctor was quite sure he saw the feet of some sort of fowl hanging off the side halfway to the floor.

"Ever consider opening an apothecary, Lura?" the Doctor announced, and the Muramphian woman turned fluidly to face them. "From what I can tell, you'd be quite successful. Lots of rarities you've got here. Make's Sariel's look like a toy shoppe. Are those _vacuum figs_?" he wrinkled his nose at her. "Good for the hearts, but don't eat too many with beans on toast or your skin'll turn purple!" He beamed as if Lura were his best friend. "Who knew fruit could grow in space, hey?"

Lura smiled tolerantly and squinted. "You're used to controlling the conversation, aren't you?" she said smoothly.

"Yes I am, and d'you know why?" The Doctor bounced on his heels, feeling full of energy after having sat around for so many hours. "Although I have to ask, Ambassador Lura, why would you want to resurrect the Carrionites? You've got such a good thing going here, you must admit." He shook his head collaboratively as he spoke. "Wouldn't they just be competition? They'd no doubt muck up your entire operation."

"Oh but this _operation_ has one ultimate goal," Lura paused, as if remembering what to say next, "_Doctor_. She began to wander. "All Muramphians want the return of those we follow, those we seek to learn from and aid in their progress so that we may learn even more." Lura turned and began to saunter towards him. "Speaking of aiding a cause, I gave you the night to think on your decision. I know that what you want most is to be released and left alone, so if you help me, I will be most grateful and would be willing to let you go." She stopped in front of the Doctor. "Have you had enough time to consider?"

The Doctor briefly turned his eyes upwards. "Ooh, _way_ too much time."

Lura narrowed her eyes. "And?"

"That's the thing, though. I _am_ a good listener, aren't I, Rose?" the Doctor pivoted, and despite being caught off guard, Rose nodded supportively. "When I need to be, and frankly right now, I think I know all I need to know. I'm so very good with _conversation_ as you put it because I'm usually right, just like I was last night." He shoved his hands into his pockets and dipped his chin as he stared Lura in the eye. "The Carrionites don't belong in this universe. Take it from a Time Lord. The answer is still _no_."

Ambassador Lura stood very still, then sighed slowly with disappointment. "That is a shame, but I think we must not rush things," she said with a surprisingly pleasant tone. "I believe with a bit of perspective, you'll come to see things my way." She waved a delicate finger at the Doctor's guard. "Take him to the courtyard."

The Doctor was pulled by the arm and his eyes went to Rose. Her guard wasn't moving. "What about her? Rose stays with me."

"Oh, I'm not finished with her just yet."

Alarms sounded in the Doctor's head. "No!" He pulled at his guard's hold. "Leave her alone!"

Rose struggled, too, her eyes wild with fright. "Doctor!"

"Please!" the Doctor begged, feeling helpless in the Bosthinat's strong grip. "Don't hurt her!"

Lura held up a hand, and the Doctor's guard stopped its pulling. "Are you saying you wish to reconsider?"

The Doctor stared at her and swallowed thickly. His eyes moved to Rose. She stared back at him, her beautiful big brown eyes telling him she was very afraid. He loved her, though, because they also told him not to betray himself.

He looked back to Lura and frowned in resignation. "I can't."

Lura nodded slightly, as if expecting nothing less. "Very well." Her hand moved again.

The Doctor struggled, but the grip on his arms only tightened. "No! Let me go!" the Doctor yelled, his voice cracking.

"Doctor!"

Taking a moment to calculate, the Doctor aimed a kick at the Bosthinat's knee, and the guard rattled a cry and collapsed. Now free, he ran for Rose, but he was intercepted by a guard from the doorway. The Doctor's fist landed squarely in the guard's abdomen, but it was a very well naturally-armored abdomen. He cried out in pain and frustration as the guard restrained him.

"Put him down!" Lura ordered.

The Doctor barely had time to whip his head around to see the blow coming. His head snapped back the other way, and within a second he was out cold.


	7. Fresh Air

The Doctor groaned and rolled his head to the side, away from the bright light and blinked open his eyes. He was outside next to a stone building. His hand ached as he raised it to his face. Feeling along the tender spot on his jaw, he tested movement of both.

"You okay?"

Turning his head and blinking into the sunlight, the Doctor could make out Rose's silhouette. "Rose!" He bent to get up and was thankful to find his head didn't spin as expected. "You all right?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Fine." The Doctor stood, brushing off his trousers, and noticed the pendant hanging around her neck. In a warning tone, he asked, "What's that?"

She looked down and fingered the broad bronze disc with the red stone in the middle, turning it in the indirect light of her shadow. "Dunno. What do you think it is?"

The Doctor took it in his hand and peered at it. Deciding it of little immediate importance, he dropped it in favour of embracing Rose. "I thought they'd taken you. Done... something."

Rose squeezed back. "I'm okay. They just hauled you off and put this thing round my neck. I was taken outside, and there you were on the ground.

The Doctor, his head over Rose's shoulder, looked down the steps at the four guards standing and watching them. He pulled back and met Rose's eyes. As she gazed up at him he saw concern, and something else. Her eyes moved to his mouth, and she pulled slightly on the lapels of his jacket. The Doctor immediately looked up at the guards warily.

"Don't worry about them," she said. "Think we've been given recess. Free time."

Despite his reservations, the Doctor found himself undeniably attracted, and their lips met. It was slower than before, sweet and sensual. He breathed in deeply and sighed through his nose, feeling calmer and more focused, his worries chased away. Rose was here with him. Unharmed, but why?

Breaking the kiss, the Doctor couldn't help but glance behind her to see the guards hadn't moved. It seems Rose had been right. She looked up at him, her large eyes full of desire. Still, best not to press his luck. Moving his thoughts forward, he dropped his eyes to study the pendant between them. He turned it over curiously. "Same one the Bosthinats wear, but why give you one? Some sort of tracking device?"

"Or maybe something more simple, like a symbol. Shows I'm with 'em."

"Mm, maybe. With the ambassador specifically. But why don't I have one, then?"

Rose pursed her lips. "If it was a tracking device, wouldn't they rather you have that, too? I'm 'just a human,' remember?" The Doctor grumbled acknowledgement and puzzled over it a moment before Rose pointed towards the guards. "They're just waitin' on us."

The Doctor gently pulled Rose to the side. "Right, what's this then?"

One of the guards stepped forward. "We're to accompany you about the courtyards."

He frowned. "What, anywhere?"

"Within limits, of course."

"Of course, yes," the Doctor agreed automatically. "What for?"

The guard paused. "To... 'gain perspective.'"

The Doctor met Rose's eyes, and she shrugged. He addressed the guard, pointing to Rose's pendant. The guards were wearing them, too. "What's this for?"

The guard stared back at him. "It's one of our crests."

"Yeah, I can see that. Why's she wearing one?"

It paused. "Don't know."

The Doctor looked off into the distance around them. "Well, then." He looked to Rose. "Guess we look around."

"I'm so happy to be with you." Rose beamed at him, slipping her hand into his. "Doctor." He beamed back at her.

The pair began walking with their Bosthinat escort. The Ambassador's building appeared to be surrounded by other official buildings, with Bosthinats strolling on pathways between them in their unique side-to-side manner. Even though they were technically imprisoned, it felt good to walk again, Bosthinatia's sun was shining, and they were together.

"So," Rose began. "Carrionites."

The Doctor inhaled a deep breath of fresh air. "Powerful race, haven't been seen since the Dark Times. No one's heard of them since—well, except for the Muramphians, apparently."

"You said they don't belong in this universe."

"Ooh, like I said, powerful. If they hadn't vanished, the whole timeline since would've been completely different, and not for the better."

Rose seemed to take in this information, gazing off into the distance as they walked, before turning back to him. "Who knows what they're like now, though. Maybe the Carrionites have changed? Wouldn't you give them a chance?"

The Doctor sighed in thought. He'd never thought about it in quite that way. Leave it to Rose to be compassionate. "Never thought about it like that. And really, I don't know that much about them. Still." The Doctor turned and began walking backwards, peering over the guards' heads as he studied the Ambassador's building behind them from their new distance. He missed his coat and wished he could feel it wrapping about his calves. "Lura wants me to bring them back from the beginning, which negates any chance of the Carrionites even having time to change."

"Could you bring them back in this time, then?"

The Doctor righted his direction and peered sideways at Rose. "Not likely. Why?"

Rose evaded his eyes. "I just... wanna get out of here. If we cooperated, she'd let us go. Thought it'd be worth trying."

The Doctor frowned to himself, and they walked on silently in thought.

After a while, they began to chat idly about their surroundings. The courtyards really were beautiful in their own way. A native species of yellow ivy seemed to be a popular choice to let run across expanses of many of the white stone structures. The trees were wider than they were tall, stretching their pale yellow canopies out to shade benches and pools in a soft golden light. It was peaceful and quiet except for the faint clicking of distant insectoid conversations. Serene.

Two Bosthinats on a bench in the shade of a tree caught the Doctor's eye. He made his way over, hand in hand with Rose and their guards in tow. They wore silver pendants with green stones.

"Hello," the Doctor greeted brightly. Both Bosthinats looked up in surprise. "Gorgeous day, isn't it? Mind if we join you?" He seated himself on the edge of a fountain that pumped mud over a textured surface in various interesting patterns and waved dismissively at their escort. "Don't mind them. Personal protection, never can be too careful."

The Bosthinat pair looked at each other, then one addressed the Doctor. "Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor, pleased to meet you!" He lifted Rose's hand and gave it a squeeze. "And this is Rose. You are?"

The aliens hesitated for a moment but seemed to recover. "Hereshik'klik, and this is Trerr'pak. You..." it gestured to Rose, "...are with the Ambassador?"

The Doctor looked to Rose's pendant. It seemed she had been right again. "Oh, yes. Sort of. Business." He gestured to their pendants. "And you?"

Hereshik'klik pointed at the building in the distance behind them. "Treasury department."

"Oh," the Doctor acknowledged. He searched for a suitable question to ask, but their vocation was entirely uninteresting to him so he sacked the attempt. "So, if I may ask," the Doctor hunched forward on his elbows, all interest, "What do the korwi mean to you?"

Hereshik'klik, the one doing all the talking, leaned backwards. "Korwi? Well, nothing." Trerr'pak shook its head in agreement. "Except for what they produce, of course."

The Doctor frowned, his attention fully on the Bosthinats. "What do they produce?"

The pair looked at each other again, puzzled. Hereshik'klik bowed its head. "Forgive us. You are alien to Bosthinatia. Otherwise you would know that korwi are only good for making perfume."

The Doctor furrowed his brow, aghast. "_Perfume_? That's all they're good for?"

Hereshik'klik appeared completely puzzled. "What else would we do with them?"

Trerr'pak reached for Hereshik'klik's hand and clasped it, mirroring the Doctor and Rose. "Korwi perfume has been very good for us." It bent its head towards the other. "I would not have Hereshik'klik without it."

The Doctor shook his head, attempting to make sense of what they were saying. "I don't understand. Without the perfume, you wouldn't have—" he stopped himself and raised his eyebrows. "The perfume, it's like an attractant?" The Bosthinats looked to each other, back to him and nodded. "Some sort of... pheromone?"

Trerr'pak nodded again. "Everyone uses it. Have to, really."

"Why?"

"Well," Trerr'pak amended, "It's not so much a need as a want. We have no desire to reproduce otherwise. It just makes the process less... awkward."

The Doctor stared at Hereshik'klik and Trerr'pak, thinking through everything he had learned so far about the Bosthinat and korwi relationship. The two Bosthinats watched him in silence. Finally, the Doctor sighed deeply and wiped a hand down his face. "Something's not right." He shook his head. "This isn't right."

"What isn't right?" Hereshik'klik said.

The Doctor let go of Rose's hand and gestured to them with open palms. "I think you're meant to coexist with the korwi, more than just extracting what you need from them for your own purposes. Let's just say I heard a story about your evolution, your history. Perhaps you and the korwi were once equals."

Hereshik'klik shook its head very rapidly, as if trying to fling something off its face. "You've been misled by the deviants. They have such stories!"

The Doctor cocked his jaw, poking the back of his teeth with his tongue as he stared at them. "Do you feel like you're missing something?" He grasped at the air loosely with his fingers. "Even though you have each other, there's just... something missing. A loneliness you can't describe." Trerr'pak swayed a bit from side to side on the bench.

Hereshik'klik stood up. "This is nonsense. We had better get back, Trerr'pak." It pulled on Trerr'pak's hand, but Trerr'pak stayed seated, watching the Doctor.

"I can help," the Doctor assured them, focusing on Trerr'pak. "I have technology your planet has never dreamed of. Even the impossible is possible if you're willing to try."

Rose grasped his forearm. "Doctor..."

He was hesitant to turn away at a crucial point in their decision, but Rose's tone made him look. She shook her head at him. Confused, he furrowed his brow at her. "What?"

"This is the way they are. I don't think their culture should be meddled with."

"_Meddled_ with?"

"Come on, Trerr'pak." The Doctor turned back to find the two Bosthinats leaving the bench and he stood with them. Trerr'pak gave him a look over its broad shoulder at the Doctor, a look that told him everything he needed to know. Fla'ri'kikitch wasn't the only one.

He was about to call after them, but stopped himself. There was something else more pressing on his mind.

"You know me, Rose," the Doctor said, then turned to face her. "I know what should and shouldn't be. It's what I do. Since visiting your dad in the past, you've always trusted me. What is this?"

"I just..." Rose turned her eyes to the distance, towards the two Bosthinats walking back towards their building. "It seems like everything's fine, really. I just think you're reading too much into this. I just want to get out of here."

Something about her was off. Her mannerisms, her expressions. His eyes flicked to the pendant around her neck. It was as if she were responding to suggestions not her own.

"Did they do something to you? Stick you with anything? Before you found me outside earlier."

Rose shook her head, appearing insulted. "I told you what happened. Now who's not trusting who?" She turned away and began to walk, leaving the shade of the tree and moving slowly back the way they had come.

He watched her go for a few moments before coming to a quick decision and caught up to her, scooping up her hand and smiling as he matched her stride. "You're right, I'm sorry. I guess I'm just stressing out. You know how our life can be."

Rose smiled back, appearing to accept his apology. "Yeah."

"Speaking of your dad. I never said how sorry I was." Rose looked at him for clarification. "That he turned out to be such a sorry disappointment. I know your mum had always talked about him being such a great bloke."

Rose dropped her head and nodded. "Yeah."

The Doctor lowered his head to better read her expression. "You remember?" he murmured.

"Yeah, 'course." Rose nodded apologetically. How could I forget?"

The Doctor stopped suddenly, and the guards behind them clattered to a halt. He reached and lifted the pendant over Rose's head.

"What's goin' on?" Rose asked in alarm.

When nothing happened, the Doctor frowned in dramatic disappointment. "I was _sure_ it was a perception filter." Rose stared up at him as he tried to make sense of it. "Different sort of science," he mumbled to himself.

Rose crossed her arms. "What you goin' on about?"

"Where's Rose?"

Her annoyance became surprise. "What?"

"I'm being very patient, but that won't last long." The Doctor regarded her seriously. "Where is she?"

"Doctor, I'm right here."

"Rose's father proved himself to be selfless and the best dad she could ever have. Oh and I don't stress out. I do my best work in a crisis, and so does Rose." His voice hardened. "How long are you going to keep playing these games with me, Lura?"

Rose narrowed her eyes, and then a slow smile stretched across her face. She approached the Doctor, walking her fingers up his abdomen to his chest before looking him full in the face. "I must say, I quite like having to look _up_ at you. You're very clever and inquisitive. More than I gave you credit for, Time Lord."

The Doctor's hand snapped up and grasped her wrist forcefully. "Take me to her. Right. _Now_."

Lura pulled the pendant free from his other hand and slipped it back around her neck. "I think it's time we went in, don't you? Guards, keep an eye on him."

"Yes, ma'am."

As they marched back to the Ambassador's building, the Doctor kept his eyes searching for any sign of Rose even though she was probably inside. The journey seemed to take a lot longer on the return trip. Lura was ahead of him, and now that her cover was blown, he noticed she walked much more like Lura did than Rose.

As soon as they entered, Lura instructed one of the guards to fetch Rose from the prison and continued on into the main chamber. The Doctor followed. "What have you done to her?"

"Relax, Time Lord. She's been untouched. For now."

The large room was empty of Bosthinat officials. Lura sauntered to one of the far tables and began working with something the Doctor couldn't see.

It hadn't been her the whole time. She had looked just like Rose, even smelled like her. Her adorable way of pronouncing her words was perfectly mimicked. While intrigued, the Doctor was angry. He had kissed her and still hadn't known—not that he had much experience to go on. He sulked a bit at the thought. Still, he thought he had shared something with her, but she hadn't shared it with _him_.

He felt as if he had lost her twice in one day, and it was only half over.

What was it about women impersonating Rose and kissing him, anyway? He wondered if the universe was trying to tell him something about his latest regeneration.

Footsteps made the Doctor turn to the door. Rose was being led in by two guards. She appeared well, and the Doctor let out a rush of breath in relief. His feet began to take him in her direction, but his own guard snatched his arm, and Rose was similarly restrained.

"Doctor!"

"Let them go," Lura said in Rose's voice.

Rose turned her head at the sound and froze. "Why's she look like me?" she asked incredulously as the Doctor ran to her. As he approached she turned to him, her voice raising in alarm. "What's she done?"

"Nevermind that." The Doctor embraced Rose and buried his nose into her long golden hair. "Are you all right, Rose?" he asked for the second time that day.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Did they do anything?"

"Just took me to the cell. Been goin' mad just waiting, not knowing."

"As you can see," Lura said, "no harm done."

Without letting go of each other, they turned and saw Lura lowering a flask to the table as if she had just drunk from it. Within seconds, the visage of Rose transformed, her limbs and torso elongating, her skin tinting until she once again appeared fully Muramphian.

"Oh, it was fun being you," Lura purred seductively in her own voice at Rose before fixing her eyes on the Doctor. "Now, Time Lord. You admitted to not knowing much about the Carrionites. Why are you so adamant on preventing their release?"

"You taught Sariel everything she knows, didn't you?" the Doctor asked. "It's going to take a lot more than interrogating me as my best friend for you to understand me, Lura. I'm still not helping you."

Lura pouted insincerely. "That is a shame." She then grinned devilishly. "But not just for me." Motioning to the guards, she half-turned towards the table. "Take them to their cells while I prepare something _special_ for the Doctor."

-^^-W-^^-

As they approached their cells, the Doctor groaned inwardly. He wasn't looking forward to another bout of separation from Rose. He looked to her and as their eyes locked, he could see she was thinking the same thing about him.

As the guards let go of them to swing open the doors, the Doctor made two swift strides towards Rose. By the look in his eye she could see it coming, so when he slid his fingers along the back of her skull, Rose was already matching his movements as he bent his head to kiss her.

It was deep and exhilarating, but it was brief. The nearest guard was behind Rose, and she was pulled roughly away.

"No contact," the other guard grated from behind the Doctor.

"Ambassador Lura's orders, yes?" the Doctor retorted mirthlessly. "Why, she a bit jealous?"

The Doctor and Rose kept eye contact as long as they could before being forced back into their cells. As soon as the guards disappeared down the hallway and shut the prison door, The Doctor and Rose settled down in their corners on either side of their shared wall. The Doctor immediately threaded his arm through the bars, around the wall and into Rose's cell.

Rose folded his hand in both of hers, holding onto him tightly. "What did she do, Doctor?"

"Mostly just followed me around, asking questions about the Carrionites." His voice soured. "I almost had a Bosthinat couple receptive to my help, but Lura mucked that up." Then as an afterthought, "Oh and she kissed me. Well, I kissed her. Well..." He paused, then finished miserably, "I thought she was you."

As Rose silently took in the information and began to lightly rub at the Doctor's hand, she noted a distant rumble of thunder somewhere outside. She had feared the worst when she saw Lura looking like herself, but it made sense that she was merely trying to get the Doctor to confide in her.

The Doctor flinched, and Rose stopped her motions. "What's wrong?"

"Mm, hand's just a bit sore."

Rose frowned. "From what?"

"Don't you remember?" He asked lightly. "I punched a bug."

She grinned, remembering. It hadn't been a happy moment, though. Closing her eyes, she pressed a kiss to his palm, imitating what he had done the night before. The Doctor's eyes slipped shut and he sighed contentedly.

His hands were all bone and sinew, slender and long-fingered. Rose knew them so well, could recognise the Doctor just by his hands. The feel of his hand in hers was just so _right_. It was so very common for her to watch him tinkering with the TARDIS or this or that, his hands always grasping or manipulating levers and various controls on the console, pinching or twisting wires, tweaking small bits of tech...

...or more recently rubbing a dusty, rose-shaped effigermus thing and sending her into blissful oblivion.

The Doctor caressed the side of her face with his fingertips, finding comfort in her touch until he skirted the edges of something devious going on in her mind. He opened his eyes and intended to delve into further investigation of the curiosity, but he didn't get the chance. Rose pulled his first three fingers back gently but firmly with her thumb, bracing her hand on the back of his for support. She held his wrist with her other hand and began to actively kiss the stretched skin of his palm.

The skin was sensitive, yes, but it was more the intimate suggestions from her that sent shivers down his spine. Soft puffs of air from her nose washed over his flesh. It felt wonderful, but the hint of what she had been thinking made him wary. He wished he could see her, could look into her eyes. "Rose..." he hedged, attempting to gauge her intent.

Rose grinned into his hand at the half-amused, half-worried tone of his voice. She drew the tip of her tongue into a hard bead and began to tease him.

He gasped, his mood quickly accelerating. Thunder resonated against the building. "Rose?"

The Doctor began to breathe more deeply as her touch invoked delicious sensations up his arm. He couldn't normally be this sensitive! True, the extent of their physical intimacy up until this point consisted only of a couple of brief but heartfelt kisses. It would be one thing if they were to sit and idly chat while she gave his hand a good massage. It was entirely another to tease, caress, lick, fixate on one point like—God, she just _bit_ him!

Flashes of Rose under the mercy of the effigermus invaded his brain, and the Doctor yelped out her name. The heels of his rubber soles skidded along the floor and he attempted to pull his hand back, but she tightened her grip on his wrist. With the way his arm was locked around the separation, he just didn't have the leverage.

The Doctor was at her mercy, apparently just how she wanted it. Bracing his other hand against the floor, he kicked feebly and rolled his head back against the bars as he began to pant, blinking slowly and seeing nothing. He could probably block it all out. Thinking about something unappealing just might be enough to compensate. He could use his superior Time Lord faculties and not allow the thoughts of his Rose sucking at his skin like it _wasn't_ just the palm of his hand to affect him, yes.

He should but he didn't, because if he were honest he really, really didn't want to.

When the blonde minx holding his hand hostage in the cell next to him nibbled down the heel of his hand to the inside of his wrist and drew the thin skin between her teeth, a helpless whimper escaped his throat.

The Doctor pulled his head back further as he began to accept what she was doing to him. His chest heaved in shallow pants, his lidded eyes barely open, unseeing. All he could think about was her warm soft skin he ached to taste and feel, her curves he craved to grasp.

Rose let go of his hand and fixated on his wrist.

Oh, big mistake, Rose Tyler. The Doctor curled his upper lip and reached for her, brushing the side of her head. He found his target and let out a growl from behind his teeth.

Rose gasped and let go as a bolt of pure emotional fire shot through her mind.

"That was more than just a 'Hello,'" the Doctor rasped.

It wasn't just the Doctor that had been affected by Rose's actions. She too was panting from his obvious but repressed delight, and when he gave her a taste of what she had been doing to him, it had overwhelmed her. Rose had deserved it, yes, but it had been _so_ worth it.

The Doctor recovered his aching arm and cradled his hand against his neck. "What was that, revenge for Chosthu?"

Rose grinned, resting against the bars as she recovered her own breath. "Something like that." She was already missing physical contact. "Give me back your hand."

The Doctor snorted. "Not on your life!" Even as he said it, though, part of him wanted desperately to give in. He slowed his breathing down and calmed his tone. "Rose, I worked it out eventually. That she wasn't you." He sighed, then added. "In the end, she made a very poor substitute."

Rose smiled a little to herself. "Yeah?"

"Yep. My Rose Tyler. Un-copyable."

Her smile widened, a beam of light in the darkness as shudders of the coming storm resonated in the air around them.


	8. Yaulup

The storm was coming closer.

Rose peered out the open archway as they were led from the prison through the foyer. It was dark now except for the flash of lightning she caught just before they turned towards the main chamber.

The Doctor and Rose were welcomed into the main chamber by the roll of thunder that followed seconds later. The chamber appeared as it had before with just Lura at one of the tables. The only others in the room were the two Bosthinat guards at the doors and their two Bosthinat guard escorts.

"You're too clever and curious for your own good, Time Lord."

The Doctor stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Could say the same about you."

"I meant to ask you earlier on our date," Lura began conversationally as she kept her attention on what she was doing. "How was breakfast this morning?" When neither of them answered, Lura continued. "It's one of my favourites of what Bosthinatia has available." She turned and flashed her eyes at the Doctor. "But I pumped both of yours full of catalysts."

"Catalysts for what?" the Doctor asked. His face was hard, his eyes wary.

"You're telepathic, aren't you?"

"Why do you ask?"

Lura moved from the table, holding up a vial to the light and swirling it. She grinned as she glided towards the Doctor. "I have something special for you."

"What is it?" the Doctor prompted, his uncertain tone beginning to worry Rose. Lura pointed downward to his guard and the Doctor was forced to his knees. "Oi, careful!" He eyed the vial in Lura's hand warily. "What is that? What are you doing?"

Rose made a move towards Lura, but her guard was ready. "Let me go!" Rose demanded, struggling. "Don't hurt him!"

"Hold him," Lura ordered. The guard clamped its hands over the Doctor's arms, preventing him from being able to stand or lash out at Lura. The tall woman lowered the vial and waved it under the Doctor's nose. He seemed to consider its scent, but after a moment he snorted and jerked his head away, throwing himself back. Thunder rolled outside as if on cue. The Bosthinat restraining him was caught off guard, but it managed to maintain its grip.

"_No!_" the Doctor cried. "How can you have that? That's impossible!"

Lura appeared to delight in the Doctor's fear. "You recognise it, then?"

"Where did you get yaulup seed?" he asked incredulously. "There's only one planet you could've found that, and it's _impossible!_"

"I make it my business to know such things, to study them."

"But you _can't_."

"But I _have_, Time Lord. Really, haven't you been listening?" Lura attempted to tip the vial into the Doctor's mouth, but he kept his head away. She told the guard to hold him, but it couldn't manage to hold onto the Doctor as he struggled mightily and keep his head still at the same time. One of the guards at the door came forward, and together the Bosthinats succeeded in holding his head back.

Rose was keeping her own guard busy, attempting to break free of its grasp. She didn't know what yaulup seed was, but the Doctor was clearly terrified of it. "Leave him alone!" she yelled, but Lura paid her no attention.

"I'm a firm believer that positive reinforcement is so much better than negative," Lura stated as she poured the vial down his throat. The Doctor choked and spluttered, attempting to keep it out. "That's why I'm also neutralising your pain receptors."

"Doctor?" Rose implored. "What is it?"

The Doctor was coughing and Lura crouched down in front of him, looking to Rose very much like a hungry cat about to pounce, and she finally acknowledged Rose. "Yaulup is a rare aphrodisiac to you and me, but it's quite potent to the psyche of a telepath." Unwilling to look away from the Doctor's response to the potion, Lura tossed the empty vial behind her, and it rolled away across the floor. "It acts as an amplifier." She lightly ran a finger over the Doctor's shoulder and down the front of his jacket. "Your whole body becomes a telepathic antenna, am I right?"

"How did you know?" the Doctor grated out unsteadily as he recovered his voice.

"I have a thing for the ancient races, if you recall." She began to slowly undo the buttons of the Doctor's jacket. "I can't say there's much information to be found about Time Lords, but I combine what I do know with my specialty and have found some rather promising methods of manipulation."

Opening the jacket, Lura unbuttoned his light blue Oxford and pushed them back over his shoulders to reveal his simple grey T-shirt, and the guard used the bulk of cloth as a restraint to keep his arms back. It was very rarely the Doctor removed his jacket. The brown with pinstripes had become a part of his outward self, his identity. To Rose, Lura had just committed a personal crime.

Lura settled a hand on the center of his chest. Her brows drew together in puzzlement. "Your heart beats impossibly fast. Or..." She raised her other hand and placed both on either side, and she looked at him in wonder. "You have _two_ hearts? This is true of all Time Lords?"

"Don't know as much as you thought you did, do you?" the Doctor retorted, and Rose couldn't help but feel it a small victory.

Lura narrowed her eyes at him and lifted his shirt to his sternum, exposing his thin belly. She tested soft caresses through the hair and over his skin. He gasped, his sensory system already on overdrive. She smiled. "You're assimilating it quickly."

"Didn't... have... time..." the Doctor managed.

Lura suddenly closed the distance between them and kissed him. Her hands came up to stroke his jaw and neck, and the Doctor didn't fight it. Rose bristled. What did she think she was playing at? Lura couldn't expect him to reciprocate. It was just another form of torture and Lura doing what she pleased, Rose reasoned, until the Doctor slowly began to kiss her back. Before long, the Doctor was matching Lura's movements and kissing her fiercely. Rose couldn't do anything but stare, perplexed.

It wasn't like Rose had ever seen him kiss anyone. This was very new territory for her. The sight of them full-out snogging chilled Rose to the bone and she found herself looking away. If she were honest with herself, it was also more than a little arousing.

When she looked back, Lura had pulled away and the Doctor stared on vacantly, as if he didn't know what to do. He blinked, the light returning to his eyes, and he started to shake and realise what had happened and how terribly vulnerable he was.

"Doctor?" Rose tried in a small voice.

Lura hovered very close to his face. The Doctor turned his head to Lura's, meeting her eyes just centimeters away. "Take Rose back to the cells. Please," he begged. "Your battle is with me. She doesn't need to see this."

"I'm not going anywhere! What's going on? What's she doing to you?"

"He's mirroring me," Lura said with interest as she idly toyed with the hair above his ears. "My intentions and emotions become his."

"Please!" the Doctor insisted.

"Oh but I think she's fine right there, don't you?" Lura palmed his neck before slipping her fingers behind his head and into his hair. The Doctor shut his eyes and his head fell back as his lungs began to labour in short pants.

"That's right," Lura purred. "Submit to me, Time Lord." The Muramphian arched her back and laved her tongue across the Doctor's throat. The Doctor's own back arched in response, and his head came up. He reached for Lura's neck, and when she receptively closed the distance, he began to explore the taste of her golden flesh. After a moment, though, he stopped and seemed to forget what he was doing. Lura quickly picked it back up, testing different kisses under his jaw. Reminded, the Doctor battled her for access to her neck.

The Doctor was winning at one point, and Lura took the opportunity to speak. "Answer me this, my compliant Time Lord." He murmured his acknowledgement against her skin, and Lura turned to peer at Rose. "What does Rose mean to you?"

He immediately pulled away, and his enslaver took over with the physical attention. "Love her," he responded without pause. "My life. The healer of my soul." Finished with his confession, the Doctor resumed his exploration at Lura's prompting.

"Is this true, human?"

Rose had stopped breathing at the Doctor's words. Her lower lip began to quiver as she was overwhelmed with the situation. It was a shock to hear his words about her with no pretense, no usual Doctor-filter in place. And the fact that she was hearing it now with Lura in the middle was just unfair.

"Is it?"

"Prob—" Rose blurted. She attempted to steady her voice and settled on, "Maybe."

Lura drew back with a single-syllable laugh of accomplishment. The Doctor hung uncertainly for a few moments and finally blinked and raised his head. Scared and trembling, he looked to Lura and then to Rose.

"Catch your breath, my compliant Time Lord," Lura oozed. "You're about to make me _very_ happy."

Rose hated to see the Doctor so afraid, so broken. She had to be strong for him. Rose drew in a galvanising breath and looked him straight in the eye. "You can fight this, Doctor."

"What did I do?" he sought in growing panic. "What did I say?"

Rose's heart cracked a little in her chest, and she offered him a watery smile. "You're gonna be fine. Just hold on. Just _fight_."

Lura and two Bosthinat guards behind him were pulling his crumpled jacket and shirt down his arms. "Rose," the Doctor pleaded, shaking his head and his voice breaking as Lura closed on him, "Don't let me forget."

Having freed the Doctor's arms and now only having him restrained by the guard, Lura descended on him. The Doctor turned away from her kiss, but she seemed content to settle on just under his ear. His face was now towards Rose, and he caught her eyes. As they gazed at each other, Rose was horrified to see the life suddenly vanish from his dark brown orbs. His dead eyes drifted towards Lura, followed by his head, and in seconds he was reciprocating her every move.

She had held it together for him. Now that he was gone, Rose released a sorrowful sob. Don't let him forget what, what he was doing and saying? What Lura was doing to him?

Who he was?

Rose wished she hadn't been so cruel to him not so long ago. Compared to this it was nothing and they had both enjoyed the playful conflict in their cells, but had she known this was coming she would have chosen to leave him with something more fortifying.

"Let him go," Lura gasped as the Doctor relentlessly pursued her mouth. A sharp crack of thunder shook the chamber walls, and the Bosthinat released his grip. The Doctor practically pounced, his hands going straight to Lura's sleek sides and swathing as much of her as he could with his touch. Lura emitted a feral growl which he returned and allowed herself to be wrestled to the stone floor.

Rose turned her head away, appalled by her body's sympathetic reaction to what she was seeing. She struggled for breath like a fish out of water. The Muramphian's form was so sensually appealing that Rose was half hoping the Doctor wouldn't remember just in case they did get out of this and he found Rose to someday not measure up. The Doctor himself was so _gorgeous_, more than her dreams had ever managed to capture, except she had always expected to be the receiver of his affections. Even then the Doctor's body appeared mismatched next to Lura's and much more akin to her own human form, like the prideful grace of a lioness dragging the magnificent stallion down by his neck and robbing him of his own natural might.

It wasn't just the heat of arousal that permeated her being. A surging depth of anger welled within her, surprising Rose. The Doctor didn't love Lura. His actions were merely of her reflection, a twisting of her own deceptive inner beauty. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. Yes they had and would in the future be attacked in various ways, their lives threatened and forced into adaptation as they grew and experienced, but why this? Why at such a personal level in a way that was possibly what mattered to the Doctor and Rose most?

Rose's eyes were drawn to the sounds of shifting. Lura had managed to subdue the Doctor, no doubt assisted by his having just absorbed from Lura her own state of submission. Rose wondered if the Doctor was using what he had taught Rose about mental barriers right now, about how to separate one's mind and retreat. The pair rolled again, the Doctor once again dominant, and Rose pursed her lips in frustration. It sure didn't seem that way.

"Stop it!" she shouted, unable to stand it any longer. Her voice lost its power. "Bitch," she added softly.

As if responding just to spite Rose, Lura again pinned the Doctor under her and purred to him. "Doctor..."

"Rose..." the Doctor replied amorously.

Rose's blood ran cold.

Was he speaking to her or Lura? It couldn't be her, not by the way he said her name, the fact that he was responding to Lura. Was he confused?

The Muramphian crowed in amusement, apparently unconcerned and cooed to the Doctor while hiking his light undershirt halfway up his torso and maintaining a steady source of stimulation along his skin with the tips of her fingers. "Tell me, Doctor..."

"Tell you," he murmured while flirting with her lips.

"How do we open the door for the Carrionites?" she sing-songed sweetly.

"TARDIS..." he returned readily. "My ship..."

"Go on..."

"Break... Time Lock... so long ago..."

"Rrr... Show me..."

"Show you..."

"Yes..."

"Dawn of Time... ungh... fish fingers..."

Lura stopped in confusion and panted, "What?"

"Terrible on toast..."

Lura dropped her head and locked the Doctor reciprocally in a fierce kiss. If he was copying Lura, then why Rose's name? The thought of the Doctor possibly resisting Lura and using Rose as a defence mechanism played across Rose's mind. Lura pressed her forehead to his and stared straight into his eyes. "How do you break the Time Lock at the Dawn of Time?"

"King... of the Forest of Wild Endeavor? Antlers as wide as he is long but somehow never snags a tree..."

Lura snarled, forced her hand between the Doctor's legs and squeezed. The Doctor, a mirror of her own rage, roared back at her and attempted to bite any part of her he could reach, but Lura had the advantage above him and kept away.

Deftly spinning off of him, Lura crouched a safe distance away, braced herself on one hand and hissed at the Doctor. His two Bosthinat guards each took a step towards him but stopped, their heads angled toward the Muramphian.

Rose expected the Doctor to pop up and start characteristically running his mouth, but he instead only sat up, his poise anxious. His whole body began to quake and he looked around, out of sorts.

"Doctor?"

He turned his head as Rose called him and blinked. Noticing his shirt askew, he pulled it down with an unsteady hand and began casting his eyes about. "Where's my jacket?"

Lura rose fluidly to her feet. "You clever creature, hiding from me!"

The Doctor turned and tried to stand, but he only got as far as a crouch. "Did I? Good for me."

"I see now how you're going to play, Time Lord." Lura had lost her usual cheek. "Tomorrow, you'll have the pleasure of watching 'the healer of your soul' pay for your games." She flicked a hand, and the two Bosthinats each took the Doctor by an arm and began dragging him out of the chamber with Rose and her guard following.

-^^-W-^^-

Rose deposited herself in the corner of the cell as soon as the door was closed and the guards had turned their backs. She reached to the Doctor's cell, waiting to feel his hand take hers. He gave her hand a quick squeeze before he voiced his frustration, pushed her out of his cell and let go. Rose could hear the Doctor's cell door rattle as he landed heavily against the bars.

"I'm sorry, Rose, but you'll forgive me if I don't want to touch you right now. I'd like to keep my wits about me."

Rose nodded. "Right. Yeah, 'course." She hadn't been thinking, had she? "Are you... are you all right?"

The Doctor didn't answer right away. "I'm sorry, Rose."

Rose shook her head. "No. Don't you dare apologise. This wasn't your fault."

"It wasn't fair for you to see that."

"You say that like you were any better off!" Rose considered. "I mean, you _seemed_ to enjoy it at times, but—"

"Not fair," he broke in crossly.

"I know. Sorry." They sat in relative silence, except for the occasional rattling sound of the Doctor's cell door as a shudder overtook him. "Why you still shaking?"

"Because I'm addicted," the Doctor bit out sourly. "I don't feel the pain, but my body's screaming with withdrawal."

"Pain? That's why... she dulled your sense of pain?"

"Because it hurts. Not being able to shut it off, to have your whole body receptive like that."

"That's awful." Rose grimaced, feeling for him. "I thought you were shaking 'cause you were scared."

"I was. I was." There was a long pause. "I _hate_ to lose control," he said vehemently.

Rose wet her lips tentatively. "What do you remember?" she asked, and he took a moment to think.

"Bits and pieces."

Rose waited. "Like?"

The Doctor sighed. "Doing things... I would never do."

Rose struggled to keep his answer in context, to not let her mind find it disappointing. She understood he probably wasn't talking about avoiding the more exciting things with Rose that he had done with Lura, but the possibility nagged at her. "What sort of things?"

"Does it really matter, Rose?"

"No. I guess not," Rose accepted in defeat. She listened to the soft sounds of the storm outside. Any thunder they could hear was distant, but it still lingered nearby. She looked around the fairly bare cell, her eyes now fully adjusted to the darkness. "When Lura said your name... why did you say mine? Or does the yaulup stuff confuse you?"

"No. That... was me," the Doctor assured her. "That bit is clear."

Rose waited again. "Why my name," she prompted, "and not hers?"

"I couldn't fight the biological effects. I can with a lot of things, but yaulup... I can't. I had to... respond. To her. It's like, my own will was completely subverted. Sometimes I didn't know I had done something until after the fact. Her brain programmed my actions directly, totally bypassing any sort of choice I might have had."

Encouraged to have gotten him talking, Rose continued. "But you could fight her? You said my name because...?"

He spoke slowly, as if giving in. "Yes, Rose, I imagined she was you."

Rose closed her eyes, his words warming her heart.

"In a way it was like fighting it, but actually that's what was tearing me apart inside. I fooled myself. Told myself it was you and not her, and that way I didn't have to fight. It kept me sane."

Finally, Rose didn't know what to say.

"I didn't tell her, did I?" the Doctor asked. "She was upset, so I can assume she didn't hear what she wanted to know. I don't remember."

"You talked about the TARDIS, breaking a time lock, something about the Dawn of Time... but then you fouled it up and she got angry." Rose smiled widely to herself. "I knew you could do it. I knew you could fight it."

"Yeah, you did." his tone implied he was smiling, too. "Thanks."

"Have you actually tried fish fingers on toast? Is it really that bad?"

"Did I say that?"

"Yep."

A pause. "And you neglected to tell me this until now?"

"Didn't seem important."

"Sounds brilliant to me."

Rose giggled.

"Rose."

"Yeah?"

"I'm... going to agree to help her."

She frowned. "What?"

"I won't actually, but she knows about the TARDIS anyway and that I believe there's a chance it would work. I'll tell her where it is, and she can have it brought here."

The idea of having the TARDIS on the same planet she was on sounded brilliant to Rose, but it also made her wary. "But what if she takes control of you again? Makes you use it?"

"She threatened you. I'm willing to take the chance that I'm strong enough. This will buy us time."

Rose couldn't argue with him. The pair of them shouted for the guards. When one finally opened the door, they told it to fetch Lura. A few minutes later, the Muramphian herself visited them in their cells.

Rose stood in the center of her cell, not wishing to give away the fact that they could physically touch since it was clear by their separate cells she wanted them separated. By Lura's eyeline, she could tell the Doctor was standing, too.

"Welcome to our humble accommodations. I think Rose is getting low on soap, though. Another towel or two, maybe a pillow. Oh, and the room service is rubbish."

Lura seemed out of place, too large and clean for the prison, and she wasn't happy. "I'm not interested in your idle chatter, Time Lord."

"My TARDIS is just down the street corner from Sariel's shoppe on Chosthu. It's a tall blue box, says "Police" on it. Bring it here and I'll look into the Carrionites for you."

Lura peered at the Doctor in the dim light. "I'm not in the mood for your games, either."

"This isn't a game. I've given it some thought, and what you said yesterday makes sense. I'm willing learn more about them, to see your perspective. Maybe the yaulup did it, I don't know."

"You expect me to believe after your adamant behaviour, you would change your mind just like that?"

The Doctor's voice lost all politeness and became dangerous. "You threatened Rose. Do you want my help or not?"

Lura studied him for a moment. "Your ship will be brought here. Then, we'll see just how cooperative you claim to be."

The Muramphian left with the guards, and Rose settled down again in the corner.

"Can you reach my hand, Rose?"

She saw him extend his arm out into the corridor and could see he had put his shirt and jacket back on. She reached for him. "Yeah."

"Not now. I... need to sleep. Need to heal."

Rose was surprised, but she supposed she shouldn't be. "How long?"

"Couple hours should do it. If you need to wake me, take my hand, okay? I won't move. I'll be right here."

Rose nodded, feeling better about the idea. "Okay. Sleep well, Doctor. Don't worry about me. Just get better."

"I'll be back to my old self in no time, just you watch." He paused. "Good night, Rose."


	9. Sneaky

Section Three. Don't know of a particular focus... Just enjoy the rest of the story. =P

* * *

><p>-^^-W-^^-<p>

The Doctor slept. Rose wasn't sure for how long, but it seemed a lot longer than a couple of hours. She herself couldn't sleep, not after what had happened, and she wanted to wake him but remembered what happened the last time he had slept to heal and she had woken him early. True, this time he wasn't emitting luminescent golden energy, but she didn't want to press her luck. With her face pressed to the bars of her cell, Rose tried to peer sidelong at his down the corridor. She at least _hoped he wasn't emitting any._

She peered down at his hand. All she had to do was take his hand to wake him, he had said.

The door to the prison clattered open, and Rose started in surprise. It had to be the middle of the night. Who was visiting at this hour?

A Bosthinat made its way down the corridor, its silhouette swaying the way they did when they walked. When it reached their cell, Rose saw it was carrying two plates of food. She squinted at the creature.

"Fla'ri'kikitch?"

"Rose Tyler." It passed her a plate through the bars.

Taking a moment to receive the food, she returned her attention to the Bosthinat. "What are you doing here so late?"

"The ambassador is awake very late. I brought the ambassador a meal and I was told to feed you and the Doctor. The ambassador is happy with you?"

"I wouldn't go that far," Rose grumbled and looked down towards the Doctor's cell. His hand still rested in the same place even through all the noise. Should she wake him? Certainly he would want to talk to Fla'ri'kikitch.

The Bosthinat moved to the Doctor's cell and appeared to put the plate on the floor just inside. It stood and began to leave. "Enjoy your meal."

"No, no, wait!" she whispered harshly. Crouching down in the corner, Rose clasped the Doctor's hand. It was limp in his dead sleep. She squeezed his hand and shook his arm. "Doctor, wake up." It was eerie to feel nothing in return. She shook him again. "Doctor." Looking up at Fla'ri'kikitch, she could see it watching her.

"You don't need to wake the Doctor for me."

His hand twitched, then grasped her hand back, and her heart expanded with joy to have him with her again. She could feel him getting up. "Rose?" he inquired sleepily.

Rose grinned widely. "Hey, sleepy-head. Fla'ri'kikitch has come to visit."

"Ooh, really?" he said, sounding a little more awake. The Doctor fought off the vestiges of his healing coma. "Ooh, and I can smell the food, thanks for that," he said brightly. "Good stuff, thank the cook for me."

"You told Lura the food was rubbish," Rose chortled, happy the Doctor was awake.

"Oi, manners!" he chastised. "Don't be rude to our guest." Fla'ri'kikitch stood between them and bobbed as if amused. The Doctor stretched. "Mrmph, lovely! Bit stiff, though. No worries, I'll work it off."

"Feeling better, then?"

"Much!"

Fla'ri'kikitch looked from Rose to the Doctor. "Female, male, yes?" The Doctor could see the Bosthinat was attempting to understand the concept. "Korwi and Bosthinat. I think the same." Their Bosthinat friend began to sway. "You... _need_ each other. You belong."

The Doctor gazed at Fla'ri'kikitch for a long moment. "Yes."

It stopped swaying for just a moment as the Doctor spoke then began again, now looking at Rose. "I want to be whole... like Rose Tyler!"

The Doctor wrapped his hand around one of the bars and pulled himself up to stand. "I can help you, Fla'ri'kikitch."

The Bosthinat turned to him, its voice a crackling whine. "How?"

"Come here," the Doctor said suddenly. He waited, but Fla'ri'kikitch only managed to stop swaying and stare at him. "I don't want to hurt you, Fla'ri'kikitch." He extended a hand through the bars. "I want to show you how I can help." The Bosthinat stood warily, still not moving, and the Doctor took back his hand. Okay, it wasn't really showing off if he was just trying to prove a point, was it? "Your Muramphian ambassador, Lura. She believes I can bring back an entire race of immortal beings to this universe. If she believes I can do _that_, don't you think I can work out something I've already done?" He waved a finger back and forth between him and the wall between him and Rose. "Male, female. Bosthinat and korwi. I can help you."

There was no movement at first as the Bosthinat stood assessing the Doctor. After a moment, it took a step towards him, and then another, and another.

One side of the Doctor's mouth stretched back at his victory. No, he wasn't sure what he was doing, but he had a history of successful improvisation and right now he was thinking about his first encounter with the korwi. Slowly, the Doctor sank to his knees, sliding his hands down the bars. "That's right. Down here, with me," he encouraged gently. The Bosthinat hunkered down hesitantly, its long barbed chitinous legs folding perfectly together. The Doctor offered his hand again. "Take my hand, see? I'm squishy. I can't hurt you."

Fla'ri'kikitch prodded his hand experimentally before closing his hard hand around the Doctor's. "Like korwi."

The Doctor grinned. "Like korwi. Where do they speak to you? Or rather, where do you try to speak to them? Where do they touch you?"

The Bosthinat turned its head and pointed behind its eye at a tuft of purplish hair. There was a small indentation, just above its auditory orifice.

The Doctor nodded solemnly and moved his hand. "Don't be afraid."

He pressed two fingers to the indentation and closed his eyes, concentrating. The Bosthinat was terrified. "Don't fight me, Fla'ri'kikitch. Let me see." The Doctor took a deep, slow breath himself. "No more loneliness," he soothed. "No more loneliness."

There was a clicking whimper from the Bosthinat's throat. As the Doctor was let in, Fla'ri'kikitch squealed and threw itself back, scrabbling along the floor. "What is that? What is that?"

The Doctor raised his hands in platitude. "It's just me! Just me! I'm sorry, I'm not a korwi. It might... be a bit different. I just need to see. It doesn't hurt, does it?"

Fla'ri'kikitch stilled as it considered. "No..."

He nodded. "Good, good." He made a hopeful expression. "Maybe a bit nice? Just a bit?"

The Bosthinat swayed a little, from its crouched position. "Maybe..."

He beckoned. "Then come here." The Doctor glanced towards the prison door. "Quickly, before you're missed. I can help, but you need to be strong. I need to see."

Fla'ri'kikitch crawled bug-like back to the Doctor, and he re-established a connection. The magnitude of the Bosthinat's pain was all too familiar to the Doctor, and it didn't come in any way as a shock. "Oh, Fla'ri'kikitch. This was never meant to be." Sympathetic, the Doctor allowed Fla'ri'kikitch to feel his own experience with loneliness, let it match up to its own. Branching out from new common ground, the Doctor searched for the source of the void in its soul.

He located it easily, but there wasn't anything he could do for the moment but let the essence of it become familiar and imprint upon himself. After he was sure he understood it as well as he could, the Doctor beamed at the Bosthinat and let him go. "There we are. I know what I'm looking for now, but I can't patch things up from in here. You've got to get us out so we can find you your korwi."

Fla'ri'kikitch stood with the Doctor. "I can't open the doors. The guards have the keys. Guards never put them down."

A slow, steady grin stretched across the Doctor's face. "Oh, I think I can help with that, too."

-^^-W-^^-

Ambassador Lura fretted over a bowl, her long soft body angling anxiously against the edge of the table. She threw a stick of something in the bowl and began mashing it with a pestle, chanting softly to herself.

Alone with her in the room, Fla'ri'kikitch kept watch of where she was looking while also scanning the room. The Bosthinat lifted its cleaning bag off the floor and leaned to the side to check behind a table then moved on. Lura's empty supper dishes were on the table near her. Fla'ri'kikitch walked towards her but slowly, keeping an eye out for something that looked like a muddy brown blanket, but it couldn't see it anywhere.

Its eyes were drawn to the korwi tanks. Would one of them accept Fla'ri'kikitch? Would a korwi in this room be the one the Doctor chose? Fla'ri'kikitch hoped they were being taken care of. It didn't trust the ambassador, but it didn't trust Berr'ka or the other Bosthinat officials even more. They were greedy and didn't treat korwi with respect, didn't even act like they were alive. If Fla'ri'kikitch had a korwi, even just one, it would treat it with respect and do everything to keep it happy. Fla'ri'kikitch even thought that if it found the right korwi and the korwi cared enough for Fla'ri'kikitch, it would even die for its special korwi if it had to.

The tables were mostly covered in organic things, and many of those were edible to some extent. There were some fabrics heaped together, but none of what was on top looked anything like a blanket.

"Get on with it," Lura said, and Fla'ri'kikitch was startled to see her looking up. "Stop dawdling and get out."

"Forgive me, Ambassador," Fla'ri'kikitch clicked with a deep bow. It lifted the cleaning bag in its defence. "I'm just cleaning up. A cook says its missing some dishes."

"Well get to it in the morning. I need to be left alone. Take mine and go."

Fla'ri'kikitch tried not to panic. There was still much of the room to search. Not knowing what else to do, Fla'ri'kikitch made its way to her and picked up the dishes while surreptitiously looking around, but Lura's proximity was distracting as always. Lura was so, alien and squishy like an animal. It could see and feel the heat radiating off of her. Fla'ri'kikitch took the dishes away from the table, wandering in a detour towards the unexplored area. It almost bounced in elation when, behind a table on the end of a low bench, it could see a muddy brown blanket.

Fla'ri'kikitch didn't know what to do. It had already stayed too long, and if it made even more of a detour, Lura would surely see. Taking a few more steps towards the table, Fla'ri'kikitch decided there was nothing else for it and dropped the dishes.

The dishes were metal and didn't shatter, but they made an awful noise against the stone floor. Fla'ri'kikitch jumped and cringed in dismay. Lura rounded in rage.

"Idiot!"

"Sorry! Sorry!" The Bosthinat squeaked and cowered under her glare, raising its hands. "I thought I saw a dish. I didn't want to make you angry and wanted to pick it up quickly. I don't want the cook angry at me either! I will pick these up and go!"

Ambassador Lura's torso shrank suddenly as species with endoskeletal structures tended to do sometimes when controlling their breathing. She growled and turned back to what she was doing.

Fla'ri'kikitch took advantage of the opportunity and went for the blanket first. Snatching it in its hard fist, the Bosthinat stuffed it into its cleaning bag. It was larger than expected, but it still fit. Fla'ri'kikitch hoped Lura wouldn't notice the bag being much bigger than before and hurried over to the dishes. It picked up a dish and squeezed it into the bag on top of the blanket, but it couldn't make any more of the dishes fit.

The Bosthinat could carry the dishes separately, but then it risked prompting questions as to why the bag was full if the dishes weren't in the bag. Fla'ri'kikitch checked to see that Lura still had her back to it, set the bag down, picked up the dishes and stashed them in a shadow behind the broad table supports.

Snatching up the bag, Fla'ri'kikitch scuttled from the main chamber, never having felt more terrified and alive in its life.

-^^-W-^^-

Thunder rumbled against the Ambassador's residence, its deep reverberations reaching all the way down the prison walls as the prison door was opened and a Bosthinat jaunted down the corridor.

"My coat!" the Doctor exclaimed joyously as Fla'ri'kikitch pulled the material out of a bag. He grabbed it and pulled the welcome weight through the bars of his cell, his other hand immediately fishing for a pocket. Rose tried to see what was going on, her hands clutching the bars of her cell.

Once the sonic screwdriver was free, the Doctor was about to point the device at the lock, but his eyes focused beyond the door at the excitedly waiting Bosthinat. He had done this a thousand times, and as much as he wanted to be quick about it and do the rescuing, he felt it important to tighten their connection to their friend. Besides, they couldn't have done it without it. A calmly appreciative smile stretched across his face as he checked the sonic setting and held it out. "Care to do the honors, Fla'ri'kikitch? The Bosthinat peered at the device and took it cautiously. "Just aim it at the lock and flick the switch."

Fla'ri'kikitch did so and flinched at the noise. It tried again, this time holding it down until the lock clicked. The Doctor's grin grew as he beamed. "Brilliant work! Now Rose!" He pointed and began shrugging on his big brown coat. The Bosthinat, now more excited than ever, squeaked in delight and went for the lock on Rose's cell. The Doctor came around to stand just behind Fla'ri'kikitch as it worked and met Rose's eyes as he straightened his broad collar. Their smiles slowly fed from each other until they were grinning widely, and they didn't break eye contact until Rose escaped and ended up in the Doctor's arms in a firm hug.

The Doctor hummed gratefully. "It's good to feel you again."

"I was going mad in that cell, not being able to see you." Rose suddenly jumped away as a startling thought came to her. "So you're... okay now? It's not bad to touch you?"

"Nope!" he popped. "All better."

Rose grinned, his mood infectious. "Good, then I can do this." Rose tugged on his lapels, not for the first time and hopefully not the last, drawing him into an overdue snog. After the initial surprise faded, the Doctor pressed on her back, bringing her closer and deepening the kiss.

"Doctor and Rose Tyler happy, but still must escape! How?"

As much as the Doctor wanted to continue on as they were, he knew Fla'ri'kikitch was right and restrained himself from making any noises of annoyance as he extracted himself from Rose's embrace. Besides, he had full confidence in his ability to get them out of there and that they would have opportunity later, especially after the ambassador had been so kind as to give him a tour of the premises. "You're right. Okay, what have we got? How many guards stay in the room just outside?" the Doctor asked as he took back his sonic screwdriver.

"Just one right now."

"Brilliant. I need you to tell the guard I need to speak to it. Lure it in here and help me overpower it and keep it quiet.

"Please..." Fla'ri'kikitch said. "I know the guard. It has two offspring. I don't want to hurt anyone."

The Doctor stepped closer to Fla'ri'kikitch to look into its eyes. "I don't want to either. That's why we're going to lock the guard in its own cuffs and put it in my cell. That work for you?"

Fla'ri'kikitch seemed to consider the idea and before long had warmed up to it enough to make its way to the door.

"Doctor, what about the TARDIS?" Rose asked as they followed. "We won't know where they'll take it!"

"I know, but we might not get another chance to escape. We'll find it, I promise. Now let's go!"

"What if she decides not to bring it, knowing we'll try to use it to escape?"

"And pass up an opportunity to get her hands on Time Lord technology?" the Doctor returned as they walked briskly after Fla'ri'kikitch. "We're hardly helpless here without it. Surely we could hitch a ride off planet somehow if it comes to that, and she's got to know that."

The Doctor pressed his back to the wall next to the door and nodded at the Bosthinat. Fla'ri'kikitch nodded back and pulled open the door. "The prisoner needs to speak with you."

"It can wait until morning," a rasping voice outside retorted. "Next shift will bring them out at dawn anyway."

Fla'ri'kikitch swayed a bit in the doorway. "The prisoner says it needs to speak to Ambassador Lura right away, that it cannot wait until morning."

_Nice improvising_, the Doctor thought. He heard a couple of thuds against the floor and a shifting sound. "Step aside," it grumbled.

As the guard passed through the doorway, the Doctor spotted the cuffs at its side and snatched at them. Fla'ri'kikitch came forward and held down its arms and it began to struggle.

"Get the door, Rose!" the Doctor whispered harshly as he worked the cuffs loose. With Fla'ri'kikitch's help, he managed to get the cuffs onto the guard's flailing wrists as the door was closed behind them.

"Fla'ri'kikitch! What have you done?"

"I coerced it." the Doctor broke in. "Alien mind control, I'll let it go after I leave. I'll do the same to you if you're not quiet. Now, if you please, make yourself comfortable in my cell and sit quietly until you're found."

Rose resisted the temptation to give the guard a good kick. She didn't recognise one from another, but as a whole they had kept her from the Doctor when she needed to go to him most and she didn't much like them. The Bosthinat, apparently intimidated enough by aliens it didn't understand, decided it had no other choice and stumped over to the cell. They followed it and the Doctor closed the cell door behind it, sketched a little wave of farewell, and made his way back to the prison door with the other two.

Fla'ri'kikitch opened the door and walked out, looked around, then waved them out. Rose's heart raced in anticipation of a good run, the sight of the desk and chair she usually associated with being escorted by guards making their escape seem all the more real.

The prison entrance wasn't far from the exit, but they weren't free yet. Fla'ri'kikitch was studying the hallway while the Doctor and Rose stayed around the corner. "One guard in the hall. Two outside the building. Doctor..." It turned to look at him. "You said you would let me go after you leave. You mean to leave me behind?"

The Doctor took a moment to respond. "Yes."

"I want to come with you!"

"It's too dangerous, Fla'ri'kikitch."

"But you will help me find a korwi, you said!"

"And I will," the Doctor insisted, "but you can't expect me to change an entire planet's way of life in one day." He considered. "Well, not _this_ planet, anyway." He offered the Bosthinat a small smile. "Give me at least another day or two, all right?"

Fla'ri'kikitch looked hesitant, perhaps doubting the Doctor or unwilling to let its only hope out of its sight. The Doctor stepped closer and raised his hand. Fla'ri'kikitch recognised the gesture and lowered its head, and the Doctor placed his fingers gently on the side of its head just above its auditory orifice.

The Doctor closed his eyes for a moment before opening them. "This isn't mind control, is it? You can see the future I will give you. You have to believe in me. Trust me, Fla'ri'kikitch. I'll come back for you." As the Bosthinat straightened back again, the Doctor dropped his hand.

"You are true, Doctor. Friend." It turned to acknowledge Rose. "Rose Tyler." It looked back at the Doctor. "Run south." It pointed down the hallway. "Gur'kurk city is that way." Fla'ri'kikitch suddenly bounced up and down. "No, run _east_ first. They will think you're going to Ferik'arakak. When they stop chasing you, run south!"

The Doctor grinned. "Clever, you are! Thank you." He placed his hand on the Bosthinat's forearm and Fla'ri'kikitch nodded to him.

"_Click-clack!_"

The Doctor, Rose, and Fla'ri'kikitch turned at the sudden sound from the doorway. The hallway guard stood there in surprise.

"Oh! Hello!" the Doctor greeted, his own surprise peppering his voice with enthusiasm. "I don't suppose you could show us to the loo? Fla'ri'kikitch here, well." The Doctor frowned and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I've got him under mind control, but he's completely useless. In fact, I think I'll let him go right now. Care to take his place?"

"_Screeech!_" the guard wailed and fled down the hallway.

"Rose, I think we've overstayed our welcome," the Doctor proclaimed, already running after the guard. "Fla'ri'kikitch, great to meet you, but got to dash, you understand!"

The Doctor tore down the hallway towards the exit with Rose trailing after him, his companion keeping up quite magnificently. He knew full well that he not only had a frantic guard ahead of him but two more outside the exit which would no doubt hear the commotion and come running. The Doctor's mind raced as he worked to come up with a plan.

Thunder boomed outside, shaking the structure, and the Doctor was struck with an idea. "Could that work? No," the Doctor voiced to himself as they ran and quickly crunched through calculations. "It _is_ close enough..."

"Halt!"

The Doctor skidded to a stop as the three guards stood in their way. Rose was a bit slower, so he caught her as she passed and swung her around him to rest at his side. The exit was _just_ around the corner, where two of the guards had come from. Heavy rain could be heard pounding on the stone outside. He held up his sonic screwdriver high in the air while simultaneously flipping it to a higher setting. "Let us pass, or I'll bring destruction down on your ambassador for her crimes!"

The guards looked at each other in confusion, and then amusement. "You will be taken back to the prison."

"Last chance!" the Doctor warned.

The guards stepped towards them.

The Doctor curled his lip and flicked the screwdriver. A terrible sound issued from its softly-glowing blue end, and Rose covered her ears. He could feel it thrumming through his chest. The Doctor bit through the vibrations in a brave front as the guards stopped and flicked their heads from side to side, their hands raised around their heads.

It wouldn't stun them forever, and his only chance was to keep the sonic going. _Come on, come on..._

A blinding flash invaded the dark corridor, washing across the guards where they stood and the inside wall across from the wide entrance. In the instant darkness of its wake, a deafening _crack_ overwhelmed the scream of the screwdriver, high and violent like a great tree being ripped in two. A second later, another flash illuminated the white stone in a strobe effect. The sconces on the walls sparked, and as the multiple peals of thunder crashed through them, the Doctor saw spots on his retinas in the blackness. The lights had gone out. He grinned and switched off the sonic and put out his hand. His arm collided with Rose's, and their hands drew naturally together.

"Run!"

The stunned Bosthinats, now confused and terrified of unknown alien power, were easily dodged as the Doctor and Rose fled the complex.

Driving rain thundered against the mantle of the Doctor's coat and instantly soaked his hair. He was grateful they didn't have to run across the broad courtyard where they could more easily be spotted. Hugging the wall, they rounded the corner and headed towards the back. A stuttering alarm rose up from somewhere above them, and the Doctor cursed inwardly. Apparently, the alarm system was on an independent and more protected power source from the lighting grid.

Clearing the rear of the Ambassador's residence, the Doctor could only see the dark rectangle of a small utility structure ahead of them. He let Rose's hand go as they sprinted across the flat area between at breakneck speed.

Angry insectoid cries rose up around them as the Bosthinat Guard engaged in pursuit. The Doctor and Rose ran past the utility building. The Ambassador's building faced the courtyard from the outskirts, apparently, as there was nothing beyond in their direction of flight but dark wilderness. Long grasses came up to foul their efforts, and they were forced to slow their speed.

They kept trudging steadily as the Bosthinats drew closer. A flash of lightning illuminated the way like a snapshot, and the Doctor could see the dark sprawling shapes of trees ahead. He checked behind him and actually found Rose alongside, closer than he had anticipated.

He held out his hand. "All right?" he asked between panting breaths.

"Yeah," Rose responded in kind and took his hand.

By the time they reached the trees, the Bosthinats were even closer. At least they had a reprieve from the rain and could see a little further. "Watch your footing, Rose." the Doctor said just loud enough for her to hear. "Roots everywhere." The treeline wasn't very deep, and they could see rain ahead of them again. It looked nothing like what they had just left, though.

Beyond them for the limited distance they could see through the rain was nothing but churning muddy water. In the heavy downpour, it looked like a frenzy of feeding piranhas. They turned.

Just beyond the treeline, a beam of rare moonlight caught on the advancing force. White clouds of water buzzed on a dozen Bosthinats' shining shoulders as the driving rain bounced off their carapaces in all directions. Neither the Doctor or Rose wished to risk capture—both knew what awaited them if they were caught. They looked to each other, and with one mind leapt into the lake and began to swim towards their freedom.


	10. Through the Night

Rose clambered gratefully up the bank, feeling the weight of her drenched clothing clinging to her body. Rain splattered her eyes, but it was only more of the same. She felt as if she had swallowed a full litre of water. The air was warm so she wasn't cold—it was eerie, as if she were hopping out of an indoor swimming pool. The Doctor was looking back the way they had come and Rose turned to look, too. Her eyes had adjusted to the night, and it would have been pitch black if not for the light of a moon and the stars peeking through the small area of now parting clouds. Rose was desperate for air, but she held her breath long enough for the Doctor to be satisfied that no one was following them, at least at a close distance.

The Doctor took her hand and started off carefully so as not to trip. "Swimming in this coat is hell," he whispered.

"Why don't you leave it, then?" she whispered back.

"Not happening."

"It's not like you wouldn't know where to come back for it in the TARDIS."

"I just got it back. I might want it later. I'm fine."

The Doctor led her around the water's edge. He was making his way south as Fla'ri'kikitch had instructed. Rose was thankful they were walking so she could catch her breath, but she was also worried that the Bosthinats would catch them up.

They came to another lake, and the Doctor and Rose looked in both directions.

"Do you see a shoreline?" the Doctor whispered.

Rose groaned quietly. "No. Through it, right?"

"Right," he confirmed and began to wade in. Rose sighed before following him in. The swim wasn't so bad now that they moved slow and steady, but she was still worn out from their earlier sprint.

They passed through several more marshy lakes as they made their way southward through the night. It felt like they had been running for hours, accompanied by the sounds of their laboured breathing, a chorus of alien chirping and the rumbling of thunder. Occasionally, there would be a flash from the sky and Rose would see a still-shot of the Doctor frozen in motion. The clouds passed back over the moon and stars, dropping them once again in blackness. Rose followed the sounds of the Doctor's water displacement, but otherwise she was swimming blind.

As Rose reached in another weary stroke, her fingers brushed the Doctor's coat and she dropped her legs under her. She was surprised to touch ground. Drawing close, she could barely make out the Doctor's features in the darkness. She could tell by his stance that he was looking back the way they had come.

The rain had finally begun to let up. Dark clouds once again completely obscured the night sky, secluding them in a strangely comforting darkness. It was as if the storm had coalesced specifically to aid their escape, heralding its presence from their cells like the Bad Wolf had warned her with messages long ago to save the Doctor. Its purpose done, the receding and distant rhythms of thunder served not only as a sign the danger had passed, but also to remind them of the awesome power of the alien wilderness they found themselves now in the middle of.

After about ten minutes of resting and watching, hearing and seeing nothing but electrical activity on the horizon, the rain was reduced to a light drizzle. Rose started to climb out of the water, but the Doctor caught her arm at the edge and pulled her back down. Curious, she searched his dark shape, trying to read what she could of his features.

"Stay in the water, at least for now," he insisted quietly. "It will mask our heat signatures." Rose sighed in resignation and settled back down. She looked up as the Doctor's trembling fingers stroked down the side of her face, and a second later his nose bumped her cheek. He nuzzled her a moment before his soft lips pressed to her own.

Their strenuous exercise had long since eliminated any sort of grace to either of their movements, but he was kissing her and there was finally no one to stop them. Rose wanted to laugh in exasperation at his endurance, but as the truth of their victory began to focus in her mind, she realised they were finally free and this was a celebration.

As the last vestiges of adrenaline still coursed through Rose, she summoned the energy from her exhausted muscles to cling to him. Emboldened by her response, the Doctor began to advance in quick, frenzied movements, his mouth unrelenting and his hands never resting in one place for long. They fumbled over her sodden clothing and down into the water, one frustrated by the denim of her jeans, the other finding its way under her top and up the soft skin of her back.

Rose moaned and began her own search, her shaking hands working open the buttons of his jacket and diving under his floating shirt. Her fingertips found their way up to the unforgiving ridges of his ribcage, and the Doctor echoed her sounds of approval. The image of the Doctor and Lura came to mind, but she purposefully pushed it away. She could feel him now and concentrated on that very physical and tactile difference. It was her Doctor actually here sharing this with her of his own will, and the reality of it made her shiver despite the temperature.

The Doctor guided her backwards against the bank until she was lying back, her head in the boggy grass above the surface. He settled on top of her, pushing her into the pebbles under the water with the rim of his hip between hers, but Rose was too preoccupied with the reason the rocks were digging into her back to care. Water dripped from the ends of his hair and splattered against her cheeks. Rose combed her fingers up through it and the water found a new path, running down his face and along their locking lips in rivulets, but they tasted of the same water and mud and it hardly mattered.

The Doctor's coat floated around her in the water, cocooning them in warmth and wetness and an intimacy they had never before shared. There was nothing but Rose and her insatiable Time Lord, fervent snogging and the struggle against exhaustion, deep in a dark alien wilderness. It was all very wild and exciting, but Rose found her strength waning. As she stilled, the Doctor released her mouth and settled next to her, his arm draped across her stomach.

"Doctor, I'm so tired," Rose mumbled in a whisper.

"Sleep," he said, kissing her ear. "I'll watch over you."

In seconds, exhaustion overtook her and Rose was fast asleep.

It felt as if Rose had only been asleep for a few minutes before she was being prodded awake from a dead sleep.

"Rose," the Doctor said in a soft voice, his whispering tone gone. "Come on, Rose. Time to get out of the water."

Rose complained with a sleepy moan, her limbs feeling boneless. "Can't move."

"Yes you can. Come on. We've got to get out, and I don't trust my strength to carry you right now. You can't handle the water any longer. I don't want you to get sick."

Rose opened her eyes. It was still black as pitch. Deciding the sooner she cooperated the sooner the Doctor would leave her alone and let her get back to sleep, Rose turned over and began to crawl out. Now that she was moving, she could feel that being wet for so long was getting rather uncomfortable. As soon as her feet were out, Rose slumped back into the grass.

"There," Rose said with finality.

"Good girl," he replied through a smile. "Although we need to get those wet clothes off or you'll never dry. Come on, won't take long."

Rose managed to twist her sleepy voice into a tease. "Why Doctor, are you trying to get me to undress for you?" She groaned inwardly as it didn't come out as good as it sounded in her head, but in her state she really didn't care all that much.

"Yes I am," he replied, amused. "But really, the sooner the better."

"Mmph." Rose sat up herself and began to peel off her top. "Intimates staying on," she stated.

"No arguments from me," he agreed. She dumped her shirt beside her and began unfastening her jeans. "Where's your top?" he asked when he realised she had moved on.

"Right here, why?"

"Give it here. Can't have it in a crumple." Rose passed it over to him and lay back down, finding the removal of tight-fitting wet denim to be much more of a challenge than her shirt. Once she got it past her hips, the Doctor helped pull on the legs until she found herself in her knickers sitting next to the Doctor in the darkness and feeling very much underclothed.

He had her move over again into drier grass, which wasn't by much considering the recent rain. Rose relaxed gratefully and prepared to sleep again.

"I can do the rest with the sonic," the Doctor assured her.

"Mm, 'kay," Rose mumbled sleepily. The heat of the night penetrated her skin even though she was soaked through. The heavy drone of the bog's night creatures surrounded them, and when the Doctor switched on the sonic screwdriver, the pitch of its setting was like an accompanying instrument to the chorus that soothed Rose back to sleep.

-^^-W-^^-

It was too damn early to be awake, but Sariel fought through her grogginess as she made her way through the hall. She had been sitting too long losing money, but it wasn't fair the only work she could get didn't even fit into business hours. That's what she got paid for, though—doing the jobs no one else wanted to do.

Lura turned to face her in her slender tall beauty as Sariel entered. The Muramphian always had a pleasant sultry smile on her face on the few occasions they had met, but Sariel had never seen her look so furious before as she was now. It sort of ruined the image.

"Where are your two guards?"

Sariel crossed her arms. "You asked for me. They're in bed, where I should be." She narrowed her eyes. "Why _did_ you summon me, anyway?"

"The Time Lord has escaped." Lura opened her mouth to say more, but Sariel's amused reaction made her pause. "Something funny?"

"He has a habit of doing that, doesn't he? Except _I_ apprehended him before he could escape _me_. Problem with your security?"

Lura ignored her. "I want you to hunt him down."

Sariel dropped her arms. "_What? _Hunt him down? On Bosthinatia?"

"Preferably before he leaves it, yes. He took his female with him."

She stared for a moment. "My contract is for off-world business." Sariel remembered how readily she had responded to the call to deliver the Doctor to Bosthinatia, how desperate she had been to recover the position he had ruined, but she held back that bit of compromising information as best she could with a flippant attitude. "With the _Bosthinats_, by the way, not you."

Lura eased out a long-suffering sigh. "As I made _very_ clear to Merchant Berr'ka, the reason you're even here is by my request. I don't imagine you would be in a very good way with the Bosthinats if you were still on Chosthu with no receptive korwi, would you?"

Sariel blew out a frustrated breath through her nose. Legally, she didn't have to do what Lura said, no, but she didn't feel she had much of a choice otherwise. What did she have to go back to that would get her anywhere?

"Where?" she asked in resignation.

Lura didn't even smile. "We lost the trail in the eastern swamps. Bosthinat ground transportation doesn't operate well in storms, apparently. They refused at my insistence, something about safety. I can't say I'm pleased with their... accommodations. My ship is only a space-faring vessel. Anyway." Lura walked slowly towards Sariel. "They appear to be heading towards Ferik'arakak, but we will search all the surrounding cities." She stopped in front of her. "We will search the entire _planet_ if we have to. I will not rest until I find my Time Lord, do you understand?"

Sariel nodded.

"And trust me," Lura said, her recognisable smile returning, "You find him for me and your reward will be great. You find him for me, Sariel," she avowed, leaning close, "and you can have your own world."

As Sariel left Lura's chamber and headed back towards the guest quarters, she raised her wrist and sent an alert through her mobile comm device. As she strode briskly down the hall, it finally beeped in response, and she lifted it to speak.

"Gelry, Nash, you'd better be up and moving by the time I get there."

Her response consisted of muffled complaints, intelligible enough for her to be sure they heard her. When she reached their room, the light was on. Nash opened the door, and Sariel saw they were both dressed but not quite awake yet.

"I hate this climate," Sariel said as she entered. "I hate it and I don't want to be in it any longer than we have to."

"So we're leaving, then?" Nash said as Sariel reached the center of the room and turned.

"We're searching the nearby cities for the Doctor. Apparently, he escaped."

"Why us?" Gelry whined, throwing up his hands. "They have their own people. I thought we were leaving this sticky planet!"

"I don't think we're the only ones looking. Besides, our scanning technology is superior to what this planet has available. They're not used to scanning for alien signatures. And I need the job so that _you_ can have a job."

"We don't need _this_ job—"

"What's that?" Sariel cut in.

"What Nash wants to know," Gelry interjected while glaring daggers at Nash, "is when do we leave? Now?"

Sariel ignored Gelry. "Problem, Nash?"

"No ma'am."

Sariel sighed and crossed her arms. "I pay you both the same, but if you're not pulling your own weight in this, I'll have to give Gelry a third of your pay." She paused as Gelry shot Nash an undecided expression. "I know most of what you both make goes to your mum anyway, but I don't think you want me to have to do that because of poor performance, am I right?"

"No, ma'am. I do my job. If this is what we've got to do to go back to what we were doing, then so be it."

She nodded, accepting this. "Good, then. And yes, now. Let's go."

-^^-W-^^-

As Rose fell back asleep, the Doctor concentrated on sonicking her dry. What he hadn't anticipated, though, was just how much of Rose he would see as he did so. In the deep darkness of night, the blue light of the screwdriver was almost bright and washed over her wet and very bare skin. It was like a secret torch, illuminating a bright halo and leaving the rest in mystery.

She was facing him so he started with her face, admiring from different glowing angles the familiar features he loved so much. He spent a while on her hair and gently ran his fingers though to make sure it was dry. He moved on to her arm, watching as the beaded drops of water evaporated before his eyes. Circling his arm around her he dried her back, appreciating the soft, sensual silhouette it created on her shoulder and neck. When there was nothing else safe to cover, the Doctor pulled in a steadying breath and moved to her neck and chest.

Her slumped shoulders sheltered and accentuated the curve of her bosom, and at first he couldn't take his eyes off her, entranced as he was by the way the shadows danced around her curves as the light source moved. The fabric of her bra glowed more brightly in the sonic light. When he caught himself looking too long, the Doctor forced his eyes away. The screwdriver didn't need his supervision for quite everything.

As he made his way over her smooth body, he fought to keep his strokes even in a systematic pattern, unwiling to admit to himself that he may move the device one way instead of another due to curiosity. Would Rose be angry with him? She had effectively given him consent to do this, but what were the chances she in her sleepy state had considered the side effects when he had not?

Gently, the Doctor lifted her wrist and ran the sonic over her forearm and hand, noting the wrinkled fingertips, then where her arm had been lying against her body. He moved on to her soft stomach, telling himself Rose had let him touch her not too long ago, but she had been awake then. He angled the softly pulsing device over the swell of her hip, and the memory of Rose moving under the effects of the effigermus invaded his mind. He found himself licking his lips, quite sure it was just bad timing and he wasn't actually exhibiting a physical reaction to the fact that he wanted very much to touch what he was seeing and not just to test that she was dry.

He again reached across her and passed the sonic screwdriver down and up the back of her legs and bum, trying to imagine Rose was simply in a bikini but it wasn't working. It was all just perspective, wasn't it? Yes, it was all perspective and he was incredibly biased toward her in a way that made him more than a little bid afraid.

He dried Rose's feet and gently lifted her leg at the knee to dry between. When he reached mid-thigh, the Doctor decided he needed a break and turned away from her.

He wanted to dry underneath her, too, he decided. As he was idly scanning the wilderness around them, he caught sight of his coat laid out on the grass in front of him. Yes, that was why he had turned around—he was going to dry his coat for her. He turned up the sonic to a setting that would be uncomfortable to skin but accelerated evaporation and began passing the screwdriver over the heavy fabric. The Doctor found his hearts beating purposefully, as if he hadn't yet settled down from their flight. How was she doing this to him by just the sight of her?

When his coat was dry enough in the middle, the Doctor laid it down behind Rose. When it was clear he had to touch her, he considered planting a simple suggestion in her mind to roll over. He didn't trust that his agitated state wouldn't wake her, though, so he growled inwardly and gently pulled on Rose's shoulder and hip. She sighed and moved most of the way herself, but he was pretty sure she didn't actually wake up. Switching the screwdriver back on, the Doctor smiled softly and admired the textured imprints down her side from lying in the grass.

The Doctor once again came to the one area he hadn't done. It needed doing, didn't it? He wasn't one for doing a job halfway. He knew how long it took to evaporate water by all the sonicking he had already done. He looked long enough to ensure the sonic was in the right place under the crook of her leg after switching it on and averted his eyes toward Rose's face, doing his best not to read anything more into the gesture and really hoped Rose wouldn't wake up right now. He wanted to tell himself he was just being silly, but he was terrified he would muck it all up.

After a fair estimate of how long it would take to dry the fabric and beyond, the Doctor switched off the sonic and breathed a sigh of relief. Now to do himself. As he did so, his eyes lingered lovingly on Rose in the dim, indirect light. How fortunate he was to have her with him! The universe, it seemed, was capable of a personal kindness he before thought impossible. Whatever Rose wanted in the end, he would be grateful for the here and now.

That didn't mean not knowing just how his future was going to play out wasn't driving him half mad.

They had agreed in that dingy back room of Sariel's shoppe on Chosthu that they both wanted more, but how much more? They had a lot to talk about, and for now the Doctor would just have to wait.

When the Doctor was dry, he didn't quite know what to do with himself, so he turned up the setting again and began drying their clothes. He needed to rest more, but he didn't think he could with how excited Rose had made him. When the clothes were dry and he had nothing else to do but wait, he decided to lie back down next to Rose and at least enjoy being near her. Nestling her head under his chin, the Doctor wrapped a protective arm around her and closed his eyes.


	11. Dawn

This chapter has been edited just a bit for the rating system. The full version can be found on Teaspoon.

* * *

><p>Rose woke to the pleasant scent of Doctor, but it was the light beyond her eyelids that made her open her eyes. She was startled to find her nose buried in the fine hair of a man's chest. Her heart leapt and with aching muscles she pulled back slowly in his embrace, needing an answer to her confusion. Rose angled her head up and saw the very close and very asleep face of the Doctor. His eyes were gently closed, and Rose was struck by the calm beauty of the Doctor in sleep.<p>

Beyond their heads, Rose saw grass, trees, and a predawn sky. Looking down his pale body, Rose saw the lake and was relieved to see the Doctor was wearing his trousers. She by contrast was wearing very little, and it was suddenly very important that she not move lest she wake him.

What had happened last night? Rose remembered the water. Oh, and there was the half-conscious snogging against the shore, just down there. A pleasant heat welled in her gut as she remembered the aggressive if uncoordinated couple of minutes before she had submitted to exhaustion. He had woken her up later and told her to undress so they could dry. Rose was quite dry now, she noted, and now that she recalled the reason she was in her knickers, she breathed a bit easier.

What she wouldn't give right now for a hot shower, a fluffy dry towel, and a cuppa.

They were on the Doctor's coat. Yes, a very _good_ reason to not leave it behind, she decided. Shifting slightly, Rose reached behind her and pulled the coat over her shoulder and the Doctor's arm. She looked up to his face and was startled to see his large brown eyes open wide and staring back at her.

He could see her. Rose, now in the light, appeared to be wearing nothing but his coat, and his fingers touched bare flesh on her back. The Doctor feared he might spontaneously regenerate on the spot.

Rose recovered first, her features softening and her eyes laughing. "Hello," she greeted.

Despite his shock, the Doctor found her shyness endearing and imitated her expression. "Hello."

Rose licked her lips, drawing his eye. "We're dry."

"Yes, we are. Like magic."

"Where are my clothes?" Rose asked with a hint of accusation, her eyes narrowing.

The Doctor flashed his eyes triumphantly. "I hid them." Her eyes widened. Not wanting to start the morning off by being a git, he quickly relented and motioned with his head. "They're behind me. Also dry."

Rose acknowledged this with a relieved sigh through her nose. The Doctor closed his eyes briefly as her breath ghosted over his chest. He opened them only to drop his gaze to where the coat covered her and flexed his fingers experimentally against her back. She shivered. The Doctor assumed it was in response to his touch, didn't think she could possibly be cold, but the chance of it was excuse enough to pull her close. Rose snuggled into him, and the Doctor didn't think he had ever felt anything so wonderful.

"How come we don't stink like swamp?" came Rose's muffled voice.

He frowned into the top of her head. "The sonic, remember?"

"Yeah," she said, following him so far. "You used it to dry us, right?"

"It doesn't just dry, it cleans! You know this, Rose Tyler."

"Right," Rose drawled. "Convenient."

"It is," he agreed.

"We haven't had to run like that for, ooh, a couple weeks at least."

"Yeah. Way too long if you ask me."

"Was exhausting!"

"It was! You seemed to sleep well," the Doctor observed and pulled back enough to see her face.

"So did you," Rose said softly as she gazed at him in the indirect predawn light.

The Doctor gazed back into her soulful brown eyes and bobbed his eyebrows, his intonations honeyed with suggestion. "Ready to run again."

Rose's attention was drawn towards his expressive mouth, and she licked her own lips. Her fingers stretched out from beneath the coat and hooked the back of his neck, bending his head to meet hers in a kiss.

The Doctor pushed into the kiss, easing Rose onto her back. He propped himself up on an elbow, covering Rose just enough so that he could break the kiss and hover over her. Rose didn't like this much and tried to pull him down, but the Doctor insisted with a firm hand on her shoulder, just above where the coat had slipped. She stopped trying and peered up at him, but he wasn't concentrating on her eyes.

He nuzzled her nose with his, his own eyes almost closed. Rose then thought he was going to kiss her, but he instead teased her lips with feather-light caresses of his nose and mouth, as if he were committing their resting shape to memory. He then began to plant different sorts of kisses on her mouth and near it, down her cheek and over her ear, lips sometimes parted and sometimes not.

Rose began to breathe faster and pushed the coat back so she could reach up and grip the forearm that held her down, her fingertips pressing into the spongy veins that stood out like tendons through his thin flesh. He refused to let up. Rose attempted to thwart him by flicking her tongue when he came in close enough, but the Doctor took it in stride and nipped at it, forcing her to withdraw.

"Doctor," Rose murmured against him. His only response was a low sound in his throat. She moved her hand to his chest, familiar with its lean lack of bulk but now being able to appreciate its deceptive strength. His hearts thumped happily against her touch before she swept her hand outwards to feel the solid smoothness of his side and back. The Doctor made another sound of appreciation.

They continued in this slow lazy way for some time, fully enveloped with each other in an intoxicated haze. In just a couple of frustrating but delicious minutes they were both breathing deeply. Rose's body felt the same as always (the limited area he allowed himself to touch while in her compromised state of dress) but the way she moved against him left the Doctor feeling pleasantly breathless. Her touch was like a balm, soothing the ache of his soul in a way he had never thought possible. Wanting to be closer, the Doctor hooked his leg around hers and drew himself flush with her side.

He succeeded in catching her tongue quickly between his teeth a time or two, and Rose would reward him with a little helpless whine. He chanced his own tongue, poking the tip of her nose, teasing her lips, and even darting into her mouth twice. The second time was his downfall, though, and Rose wouldn't let go once she had him. The Doctor growled in defeat and pulled gingerly, but Rose pulled back and he sucked in a surprised breath through his nose.

He wasn't human, but in contrast to this environment so far from home he might as well have been. The Doctor was so familiar to her now, and she felt closer to him than she had ever been with anyone from her own planet apart from her mum (but in different ways, she had to admit). He was the only other living thing, the Doctor and Rose in the middle of nowhere, and he was all hers.

How had they come to this, though? It hadn't always been all right. Just days ago she would have only foreseen this in her wildest of dreams. But that was her life, wasn't it? This life, introduced to her by this very man—spontaneous and outrageous. Normal for her now was a different adventure every day.

From the start, Rose had always hoped that this would be a possibility, but with the Doctor's unpredictability it was never a certainty. He flirted with her constantly and she returned it eagerly, and after a while it became normal. That was the thing, though. Rose had grown up quickly with him and knew just by the ridiculous number of years of experience he had on her that she would be foolish to assume her limited perspective was enough to judge him by. For all she knew, he had flirted with previous companions just as much, but she liked to think that he hadn't.

Rose didn't know just how much the Doctor wanted from her, but she didn't care. She would have him for as long as he would have her, even if it broke her heart in the end.

God, did she really have it that bad for him?

The Doctor released Rose's shoulder only to brace his hands on either side of her head and settle himself between her legs. Rose apparently approved and in turn released his tongue. Now sure he once again had the upper hand, the Doctor nipped gently at her bottom lip as a reminder. Rose moaned and melted underneath him, arching her head back. The Doctor understood the hint and elatedly obliged her, bending his head to nibble under her jaw. Rose gasped, and now having proper use of both hands, ran them up the Doctor's torso and into his hair.

Something hot and powerful, strong and instinctual was overtaking him. The Doctor began to lave his tongue over Rose's exposed neck in a mindless rhythm, his brain only caring to let him know as an afterthought. Brilliant sunlight suddenly pricked at his eyelids, but the only attention he gave it was the way it highlighted Rose's body in reds and golds.

The fabric of Rose's bra brushed against his chest. The Doctor lowered himself, pressing against Rose's belly flesh to flesh. Oh, but this was glorious! He held his breath, savouring the connection for a moment before his heated state got the better of him. The Doctor kissed and nuzzled his way down her neck until his head was angled down between his shoulders. The tip of his nose located the slight swell of her heaving breast and he breathed in deeply.

The full, rapturous scent of Rose aroused him instantaneously, aggressively.

"_Oh!_"

Rose's eyes snapped open at the Doctor's distressed cry and he sprang upwards, releasing her from the delicious pressure. The sharp and blinding horizontal rays of dawn's red sunrise slashed down his features, significantly absent from the black and bottomless depths of his wide and staring eyes directly above her. She stared back up at him, and they barely breathed.

"What's wrong?" Rose finally panted out.

The Doctor released his held breath unsteadily, and Rose could see the muscles of his jaw clenching. Cooler air rushed in as the Doctor rolled off of her. She immediately propped herself up on both elbows and watched him a moment on his back before he calmed himself.

Rose swallowed worriedly. "You all right?"

"Yeah," he answered, if a bit hoarsely. "'Course. I just..." the Doctor cleared his throat and also swallowed. "I can't believe how very little control I have with you," he admitted incredulously.

A grin stole across Rose's face. "Not complaining here." She suppressed the urge to roll towards him and reapply the pressure he had felt, to see what he would do if he lost control again.

The Doctor shut his eyes. "I don't... well. It's frightening."

Rose's expression slackened. "Yeah, it is."

He turned his head to peer at her but was instantly distracted by the way Rose's loose hair shone golden in the direct light from behind her head, the wavy locks cascading over her shoulders and down onto his coat—the coat that was now beneath her completely. His eyes were drawn to so much creamy flesh, to her partially reclined and very feminine profile.

How was it that Rose could do this to him? He hadn't been like this before her, so susceptible to a human female that he would be willing to share this with anyone. True, there was something special about Rose from the first time they had met, or was he just inventing an illusion of it now in hindsight? Was it due to timing, because of their meeting so soon after the war had broken him, or was destiny being kind in this timeline, keeping them together and giving their potential a chance to blossom?

Whatever the Doctor's past, he was now exploring sexuality for the first time in his current form. He didn't know if becoming the last of the Time Lords or regenerating under her heavy influence at the time had spawned within him a desire unusual to his species. Perhaps it had been both.

The Doctor began to understand human men for perhaps the first time in their widely-recognised struggle with the male libido.

Even more than exploring their new physical parameters, the Doctor wanted her wholly, for Rose to commit her soul to him so that he could commit his to her. Until that happened, he couldn't go any further.

The Doctor took a deep breath and rolled over to face Rose. He settled a hand lightly on her bare stomach and gazed into her eyes. He then smiled softly. "Let's get dressed." A small line formed between her eyebrows as Rose took his statement as rejection, but the Doctor was too euphoric to be put off. He chuckled and wigged his fingers over her skin. Rose squealed and tried to shrink away. "We need to talk, and I can't have you distracting me with your sexy body."

Rose stared at him as he rolled the other way to reach for their garments. "Sexy?"

The Doctor bundled Rose's shirt and jeans together and chucked them at her. "Oh yes," he assured her cheekily. Rose beamed beautifully at him and began righting her shirt. He raked his eyes appreciatively over her slender flank one last time. "I would think by now that would be obvious."

The Doctor pulled the hem of his shirt down and wiggled on his trainers before standing while Rose slipped into her jeans. He stood and watched her for a moment before squinting up the bank towards the sunrise. He hadn't paid attention the day before which way the sun travelled on Bosthinatia. Closing his eyes and clearing his mind, the Doctor concentrated on feeling the rotation of the planet. He turned his head and opened his eyes. The sun was rising to the southeast, so they would head to the right of the sunrise.

Rose stood up next to him, and he offered her a cheerful smile. Oh, how easy it would be to gather her up in his arms and continue where they had left off. Well, actually it would be more like starting over since they were now both clothed.

Reaching down, the Doctor picked up his jacket and shirt and brushed them off. He laid them over an arm and went for his coat, which needed a lot more shaking out.

"Dawn," Rose said. The Doctor looked over to see her squinting towards the sunrise. "That's when Lura said I would pay." He stilled and watched her solemnly, but she turned to regard him and gave him a tight smile. "But here we are, free together. Watching the sunrise."

The Doctor smiled softly in return. "Here we are." They gazed at each other for a moment before the Doctor spotted a nearby tree higher up the bank and started toward it. "Come on."

Like all the sprawling trees on Bosthinatia, this tree's system of branches extended far more horizontally than it did vertically, but it didn't obscure the horizon so they still had an excellent view. Its roots tunneled underground and sprouted up in a ring at sharp angles, mirroring the distance of the outer branches from the trunk. The Doctor folded his coat at the base and made himself comfortable against the trunk. Rose climbed into his lap and allowed the Doctor to wrap his arms around her.

Yes, they were stranded with no food or potable water. Rose was close to complaining that she needed a shower and a good night's sleep, but she caught herself and appreciated what she had—she was warm, free, and was watching a beautiful sunrise with the Doctor. So, she instead made light of her intended verbalisation.

"Bacon and eggs, think we could find a diner nearby?"

"Mm, sounds good, but I think I fancy Rose for breakfast," the Doctor said, squeezing Rose in his arms.

"So you're gonna eat me, then?" Rose teased, poking her lip sensually with the tip of her tongue. The Doctor flashed his eyes at her hungrily. "How do I taste?"

The Doctor ducked his head and nibbled on her throat. Rose giggled and pushed at him until he looked up again in dramatic consideration. "Like honey, lavender and vanilla. Perhaps a bit of rose petals thrown in. Oh and swamp. Can't help that."

Rose shook her head. "Shut up."

He grinned and reached for her hand, threading his fingers through hers. They both looked down at their locked hands for a moment before the Doctor turned his head to admire her. "My beautiful Rose."

Rose gazed back at him. "I thought you'd be more... traumatised." She pursed her lips as the conversation cooled and clarified, "After what happened last night with Lura."

The Doctor made a face, brushing it off. "Nah, not me. I've had lots of experience with traumatic situations as you know. I've learned to move on quickly, no point in dwelling." He paused and studied her. "Even you have had your fair share... thanks to me."

Rose knew he was referring to the fact that she travelled with him. "But I'm better for it," she insisted.

It was as if he didn't believe her at first, but her confident manner made him finally smile. "Yes, I suppose you are. Definitely."

Rose returned the smile briefly before she just sat and watched him, thinking through her next words. "I want to stay with you. Forever."

He swallowed thickly at the sweetness and certainty in her voice. "You can spend the rest of your life with me," he assured her.

Rose couldn't help but feel the weight of his unsaid words, the fact that he would live on without her. "Is... that enough? For you?"

The Doctor's brow slowly knitted itself. He finally averted his eyes to the horizon. No, he could never have her for _his_ forever, he knew—but what they had, oh just a glimpse of what could be... what were his options? If he pushed Rose away, could he even go on knowing what he had left behind? _Could_ he even push her away at this point? Would the pain be any less now than when she could stay no more?

He knew Time. Everything had its time, must eventually die, but was he strong enough to see Rose each day knowing it wouldn't last as he wanted it to? Could he treasure each moment for what it was? Was it really better to have loved?

Was it enough?

The Doctor sighed slowly and once again gazed into Rose's eyes. "No, Rose. It's _more_ than enough." He freed his hand from hers to reach up and stroke her face while the other hugged her half-turned body to him. "Every day with you is. Every day is more with you than a lifetime without." Rose's eyes became glassy and she swallowed with emotion. The Doctor continued, his expression pained. "But Rose, there are so many unknowns. I don't know that I can be everything you'll want."

Rose's brow furrowed. "How d'you mean?"

"Someday you may tire of this life. You may want to start a family, settle down—"

Rose lifted a finger to his lips to quiet him. She drew in a steady breath and steeled her voice, making sure he heard every word. "I can't speak for my future, Doctor. Just as you can't speak for yours. What I know right now is that I'd rather not be anywhere but wherever with you. I cannot say what I'll want tomorrow. No one can." The Doctor opened his mouth to argue, but Rose spoke over him. "But know this." Rose dropped her hand and placed it between his hearts. "I left my old life because you showed me a better one. Who can go back after that? I couldn't, and that's why I ripped open the TARDIS to save your life. I'm fiercely loyal to you _now_, come what may. When it does, we'll deal with it together. All I can offer to you is what I am now, better because of you. You say every day is better with me, and I say the same with you."

The Doctor felt his own eyes prick with moisture. "Thank you," he croaked. He squeezed her to him, and Rose acknowledged it with a watery smile. Her words had him coming undone, but he had to be sure she understood. He cleared his throat. "I love your loyalty to me, and I'll have you at my side for as long as can be. But I can't—" The Doctor turned his head away as his voice broke. He had to say it. She had to know. He had to know. "I don't think I could bear it, not anymore, unless I had all of you." He caught her gaze then, needing to see her reaction. Her eyes were big and round, hanging on his every word. "You're my life, Rose."

Rose swallowed back tears. She didn't think she could ever forget the words he spoke of her with the Muramphian. "The healer of your soul."

The Doctor frowned and nodded, confused. Where had Rose heard that? _He_ had heard that somewhere, recently. Lura had said it as she was sending them back to their cells. He was too out of it to think on it at the time, that she had actually said that out loud. Why had she said that?

Realisation dawned on him.

"Rose, did I say that? About you?"

Rose bit her bottom lip and nodded, her face telling him more.

His hearts thumped a little faster. "What else did I say?"

Rose's eyes shone and she treated him to a tender smile before she sobered and breathed softly, "I think you know."

The Doctor could only stare at her for a moment at her challenge. He retreated a bit. "Rose, I need to know." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "How much of yourself will you commit to me?" he managed, but his voice had shaken.

Rose was surprised by his question, although when she thought about it, he had been leading up to it just a moment before. Her eyes fluttered and she almost shrugged and simply said, "Everything."

The Doctor suppressed the buoyant joy that threatened to bubble out of him. He blinked rapidly and lifted his fingertips to her temple. "Even this?"

Rose frowned slightly and was about to answer quickly, but given the significance she reconsidered. "How d'you mean?"

His eyes intensified and the Doctor slipped his hand behind her head, impulsively pressing his forehead to hers. He drew his fingers back to her temple. "This," he rasped in almost a whisper as the possibility of what he could have, what he was asking becoming real before his eyes with Rose's next words. "I don't just want you in body, my Rose. I want to share your mind, to bond our souls. Permanently."

Rose's voice was small. "Does it hurt?"

"No," he said quickly. "Well, um. I... I don't know. I don't think so. It shouldn't, no."

"I mean, is it... weird? Alien? Like, will I stop being myself and be..."

"No, no, no, nothing like that." The Doctor shook his head against hers, still close. "Remember when I taught you how to say hello? Like this?" He waited just in front of her ear until Rose worked it out and made the first move. He grinned at her mental touch and returned the greeting. "There we go! With a bit of practice on your end, and some luck with compatibility, maybe we can be like that all the time." The Doctor paused and dropped his hand to cover hers. "Do you remember what I said about barriers?" Rose nodded against his head. "Well, we... wouldn't have any." He paused again. "There would be no secrets. All doors will be opened, from the first time. You will know all of me, and I will know all of you."

Rose swallowed nervously. "Wow."

He chuckled, her simple response amusing. "Yeah." He waited a moment for her to say more. When she didn't, he prompted, "Everything I've been, everything I've seen, even war, terrible bloodshed. And the good, of course. So many years. Maybe not at first, but eventually you would see it all. I want you to really think about what it would mean, Rose. I want you to be sure."

They sat in silence for a few moments while the Doctor stroked the soft hollow between Rose's thumb and forefinger with his own thumb. Rose finally broke the silence. "Yeah."

"Yeah?"

"Yes," Rose clarified. "I don't want secrets with you, Doctor. As you've said, I've been through trauma with you, and I'll go through more. I'll never stop, and I'm willing to learn to take it. I'll take it if it means being yours."

The Doctor shut his eyes, his held breath shuddering out from his chest as a great weight of uncertainty lifted from him. He raised his head to look at Rose, and she did the same.

_I think you know._

"Then yes, Rose," he said with barely contained exuberance. "I want you to know one thing is true." He again threaded his fingers through hers and squeezed her hand properly. "It always has been and always will be." The Doctor gazed expressively into he face. "I love you, Rose Tyler. Every time I take your hand."

Rose made a tiny sound in her throat before pushing against the ground with her feet and snogging him soundly. The back of the Doctor's head hit the trunk of the tree and Rose lifted herself to her knees, unlinking their hands so she could run hers through the Doctor's hair.

The Doctor moaned happily as he was almost smothered by Rose's advance. He gripped her hips and smoothed a trail up her back, realising this could easily turn into a lot more and they could end up making love right here under this tree. In his present state he didn't necessarily have a problem with that.

Rose had no immediate plans of letting the Doctor breathe, so she was surprised when he suddenly broke the kiss.

"I'm sorry, I have to know," he apologised roughly. "Is that what I said before? That I love you?"

Rose laughed in delight, her voice melodic. "Basically."

"Right... and _why_ did I say it?"

Rose grinned and shrugged a shoulder. "Test question."

The Doctor groaned in disappointment.

"Doctor..." Rose said.

He looked up at her, the network of leaves above catching the rays of sunrise in oranges and reds framing her golden hair. "Yes, Rose?"

"I love you, too."

A slow, joyous grin split his face. "Oh, I should think so," he said and pulled her down on top of him again.

By the time they separated minutes later, they were both breathing heavily.

"Rose," the Doctor whispered. "This probably isn't what you want to hear, but... as much as I'd like to stay here and, well, do more of this," he turned his face towards the rising sun, "We really should make good use of daylight." Rose settled back to sit on her feet. "We shouldn't stay in one place for too long, and we've already been here a while." The Doctor looked back to her and could see she was hiding her disappointment. "I don't want to lose you by being careless, especially not now that... we have this."

Rose quirked one side of her mouth and nodded in agreement.

"Besides," he went on, "we have two different species to rescue. Duty calls! The Doctor and Rose come running!" She grinned at his enthusiasm and stood.

"After we get off this planet, we're going on a proper date."

The Doctor nodded his acceptance but continued to think about the idea. By the time he made it to his feet, he was frowning, uncertain. The term made it sound real. _Domestic._

They made their way out from the tree and the Doctor turned to face south, their intended direction.

Rose linked her fingers through his. "Here we go, then?"

He smiled down at her before raising his head toward the horizon. "Yup. Just you and me. Against the wilderness."


	12. On the Run

"So how come Muramphians are all female?" Rose asked as they cleared another hill. "Doesn't the presence of a female imply a male exists?"

"Oh, well. Yeah, good point," the Doctor replied and stopped, checking the surrounding terrain while they chatted. Thankfully, they had left the swamps behind them and had what appeared to be a long stretch of grassland ahead of them. "They must've had males long ago," he said as he started off again. "Wonder what happened. Still, lots of strange ways of life and adaptations of species across the cosmos, as you're just beginning to see."

Rose was still thinking about their captivity, still amazed how the Doctor could go through such an event apparently unfazed. An excited rush went through her at the thought that someday the Doctor wouldn't hold anything back from her. So if he really was all right, she would be able to tell for sure then, wouldn't she? "So, this yaulup stuff," she began tentatively.

The Doctor didn't turn, his tone guarded. "What about it?"

"You said it only came from one place, said it was impossible for Lura to have."

"It does, did. And, well. It is."

Rose sighed in exasperation. "Doctor, you're gonna tell me everything anyway at some point. Why not start now?"

He did turn to glance briefly at her then, his eyebrows high on his forehead, before walking straight again.

"Well?"

"It came from Gallifrey. She shouldn't have been able to find it since my home planet's gone."

They walked in silence for a moment. "Oh." Rose bit her lip and caught up to the Doctor to walk side by side with him through the grass. "Maybe she's had it for a while?"

He shook his head. "No, that can't be it."

"Planted it somewhere else, then?"

The Doctor frowned and glanced at her again. "It's very rare, hard to grow anywhere but the northern cliffs of Starshine. But, I suppose it's possible. Someone could've been really good with plants."

"What did your people use it for?"

"Oh, not that hard to work out if you think about it, although there were some creative applications listed in the history textbooks. Every native knew about the stuff. It was illegal to grow, own, or use in my time."

Rose peered at him. "You seemed afraid of it, like you've had an experience with it before."

"No," the Doctor avowed with conviction. "Not a chance. I was afraid, though. Think about it. It's like a freaky horror story come to life."

Rose shrugged and bumped sideways into him as they walked, the Doctor's coat flapping around her leg as she did so. "Think I'd like some."

The Doctor turned his head to stare in surprise and noted Rose's struggle to hold back a grin. "For me or for you?"

"I dunno," she replied automatically. "Me, I guess. She made it sound exotic, like people would pay a lot for it just as an aphrodisiac."

The Doctor was nodding along insincerely and squinting ahead shrewdly. "You want it for me."

"Yeah," Rose admitted readily.

He was thankful she was too preoccupied with her own embarrassment to notice his own discomfort. "Coming up with some of those "creative applications," are you?"

"Maybe."

"If Lura was able to find some, I'm sure I could. Maybe someday, if I decide to, say, share everything that I am with you."

"But you will, though."

"I won't throw it out yet, but in all honesty, I think I've had enough for a while," the Doctor said as a shadow passed over his face. Lura had used his newfound sexuality with Rose against him. If they met again, he didn't trust himself to be very kind to her.

"Fair enough." Rose considered the dark look. While the yaulup's application on him had been terrible in Lura's hands, Rose was adamant it would be quite nice in hers. She squinted in the sunlight and moved to where his head blocked its glare. She adopted a cheeky, reasoning tone, determined to get him out of his funk. "I don't think yaulup would really change you much anyway. For example," she began as the Doctor raised a defensive eyebrow at her, "if I tag you," she smacked him on the arm and jumped away, "you've got to tag me back."

She was rewarded with a little amused smile, but he didn't move towards her and kept his pace. "You can't deny yourself. You just _have_ to do it," Rose baited boldly and poked her tongue out. She sidestepped toward him, daring him to tag her. The Doctor feigned resolution, but he kept looking toward her, and she was sure if she kept at it he would break. Rose darted toward him again, and sure enough the Doctor made a grab for her. Rose dodged and squeaked. When he followed, she squeaked again and started to dart around in circles.

It wasn't long before the Doctor was grinning absurdly, determined to catch Rose. The clever minx knew him well, but that didn't mean she would also keep bragging rights as the Uncatchable. When he made it clear he was going to win, Rose took off like a shot and he chased her through the field. Distance was his strength, however, and it was only a matter of time before Rose would be his.

He caught her by the arm, prompting her to slow to a trot and eventually stop. They were both giggling and before Rose could turn, the Doctor snaked his arms possessively around her belly. "Maybe I will have to eat you after all," he threatened in a growly tone and began nipping playfully at her throat. Rose giggled uncontrollably and squirmed, but her efforts did little to free her and a lot more towards pressing very effectively into his groin. The Doctor's breath fluttered against her skin, causing Rose to still in curiosity. He tightened his grip and began mechanically pressing kisses up the side of her neck until he reached her ear. "Don't stop," he begged in a whisper before catching the lobe between his teeth and tugging.

Rose gasped, both his words and actions reigniting her movements. She was about to give in to the Doctor's delicious attentions when the shape of a tree in the distance caught her eye. She fought off the urge to submit to what he was doing to her and stared. "Doctor, look."

The Doctor reluctantly raised his head and followed her line of sight. Both of their heads cleared as their distraction slowed their cross-stimulation. "Hello, what's that?" he finally murmured.

"The tree, yeah?"

"Yes, specifically what's _under _the tree. A beehive?" He unwrapped his arms from Rose, came around her and began to jog with Rose following after him.

"They have _bees_ here?"

"Oh, yes!" the Doctor confirmed excitedly. "Bees all over, hopping from planet to planet, always migrating. And where there's bees..."

They approached the tree. Sure enough, bees swarmed busily about a large hive in the shade of its branches.

Rose's eyes went wide when she realised the reason for the Doctor's interest. "Honey!" she said.

"Wild honey!" he agreed as he fished into his pocket.

"You can get to it, though?"

"Rose, your lack of confidence in me is wounding!" The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver. Rose eyed it warily and clamped her palms over her ears.

"They don't need the same setting as the lightning did, I hope."

"Honestly, Rose. Bees? Lightning? Nothing alike! Well, apart the their velocity along the Tandocca Scale." The Doctor adjusted the sonic setting and aimed the device at the beehive. The swarming bees suddenly doubled their speed and headed in their general direction.

"Doctor!"

"Ooh, not good!" the Doctor yelled and quickly adjusted the screwdriver. "Buzzing faster, needs a higher pitch, double the buzz!" He tried again, and just as the first bees reached the Doctor and Rose, the whole lot of them suddenly dropped to the ground. One landed on Rose's shoe, and she immediately kicked it off. Both exhaled in startled relief. The Doctor winced at Rose's glare and rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. "Forgot to compensate for their own buzzing. Sorry."

Rose sighed again, still recovering from a racing heart. "Can't say our food came easy." She looked at the bees all over the ground and gingerly stepped around them. "Are they dead?"

"Nah, only stunned," he said and followed Rose carefully himself. "They'll be murderous when they wake up, though." He approached the beehive and stretched over his head to reach, placing the sonic against the shell of the hive and buzzing it. "_Now _the original setting will work."

After a moment, the Doctor pulled the hive apart and a load of bees fell out. Rose squealed and jumped back. The Doctor grinned, secretly delighted at the sound. "Oop, mind the sleeping bees. Now, not to be greedy, just a chunk each should do." He shook off the rest of the bees from a piece and handed it carefully to Rose. "Honey for my honey," he offered in a saccharine voice. Rose rolled her eyes but accepted it gladly. "Careful, high humidity and heat makes it runny. Hold the cells upright."

When the Doctor had secured a piece for himself and stuck the hive back together, the two moved away at a hurried pace. "Now, let's shake a leg, shall we?"

As they were sat several hills away snacking on their sweet treat, Rose licked enough honey from her mouth so she could speak. "So, oh sage advisor of all things, what makes sugar sweet?"

The Doctor arched an eyebrow at her and used the time sucking the honey from his fingers to think. "Sugar tastes sweet because... well, let's say there are these little grooves in your tongue that sugar fits into. Those specific grooves tell your brain it's sweet." He gestured with his bit of honeycomb. "Complex sugars like carbohydrates contain the same molecules, but they don't break down enough to fit the grooves until later in your digestive tract and therefore don't taste sweet."

"So what you're really trying to say," Rose began as if unraveling one of the secrets of the universe, "is that I have a groovy tongue."

The Doctor grinned as he cleaned his teeth with his own tongue. He bobbed his eyebrows. "_Very_ groovy."

They both giggled absurdly and finished up. The Doctor chucked his empty honeycomb and stood, turning to Rose to help her up but she had beat him to it. Rose tipped the shell, draining the last of her honey into her mouth before she dropped it on the ground.

"So, onwards and upwards?" The Doctor nodded, but his attention was conspicuously locked on her mouth. "What? Got honey on me?" Rose raised a hand to swipe at her chin, but the Doctor caught her arm. "Oi, sticky fingers!"

The Doctor frowned. "I cleaned them!"

"With your tongue!"

"The best thing to clean honey with!" the Doctor insisted. "Like so..." He moved in and drew his tongue along the side of her mouth. Rose adjusted slightly, unable to resist turning it into an opportunity for a good kiss, and the Doctor eagerly obliged her. He made a pleased sound in his throat. How many times in the past had he needed to squelch the impulse to do just that?

A minute passed when the Doctor suddenly stiffened, pulled away and began darting his head about, searching the distance in several directions.

"What?" Rose whispered.

He raised a finger. "Shush!" He focused on a point to the northwest and spotted it. "There, just above the treeline. A search craft."

Rose looked. "I see it. Can it see us?"

The Doctor shook his head uncertainly. "Don't think so, not at this range."

"Doctor, we're in the middle of a field. There's nowhere to hide!"

He was still watching the vehicle. "It's heading east. This far south it'll be doing a circle search. When it comes by for another pass it'll see us. Come on!" The Doctor bounced on his feet and fell into a run, Rose following right on his heels.

They covered ground at a swift pace, heading south through the grasslands. Rose mostly only had the mind to pay attention to her breathing and where she put her feet. She didn't know how much time had passed before the Doctor slowed to a walking pace and pointed to the distance.

"Trees. See 'em?"

She nodded and blew out an extra long breath in relief. Her muscles were starting to cramp up from dehydration. "Good, I need to rest."

"I think we can walk now for a bit," he panted, still breathing heavily from the run. "We should have some time."

The long run had warmed the Doctor through, and the midday sun combined with the already hot climate began to make him sweat. It wasn't uncommon for him to keep his layers on in heat. They needed to reach the trees, but they also needed to conserve water until they made it there and had to be careful not to overexert themselves. The Doctor shrugged off his coat and jacket and laid them over his arm. He looked to Rose. She had to be faring worse off than he was.

"This place is so flat," Rose commented.

"And big," he replied. "The planet itself, I mean. It has a long day/night cycle."

By afternoon, they had reached the trees. Alien birdcalls surrounded them from above, and the shade of the canopy was blissful.

"No sign of the search craft," the Doctor announced brightly.

"No, but that doesn't mean it's stopped searching for us, right?"

"Right," he confirmed. "For all we know it could come from straight out from the west and fly right over us. The trees would help but they wouldn't shield us completely from their technology. Still, I'd like to think we've bought ourselves some time."

Their progress slowed as the terrain became rougher. The Doctor put his jacket and coat back on for protection and led the way to ward off sharp branches and navigate over roots and fallen trees.

"I hear water!" Rose suddenly said. The Doctor stopped his bushwhacking and listened with her. He grinned widely and pointed ahead and to the right. "That way?"

"Think so!"

They altered course, and after a few minutes they began picking their way down a bank. Rose's muscles were shaking, and she tried to keep from rushing too fast and hurting herself. Finally, they reached the bottom of the ravine and they could see the movement of water sprouting from under the heavy vegetation. The Doctor whooped in victory.

"After last night I never wanted to see water again!" Rose said.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and gave the water a quick scan. "Safe to drink!" He quickly pocketed his sonic and dunked his hands, gave them a quick scrub and cupped them to his face. Rose was down next to him instantly and doing the same. After slaking their thirst on the cold, refreshing water, they continued to rest at the stream a while before moving onwards. It was easy to get turned about in the forest as the angle of the sun was difficult to determine through the heavy canopy of trees. The Doctor paused to close his eyes and evaluate the axis of the planet before setting out in a new route southward.

"Dunno what I'd do without you," Rose mused as they began walking again.

"Lost without me, you could say," he sniffed.

Rose grinned as she watched the Doctor clearing the way ahead of her, picking their path and bending down branches. Her Doctor. Just seeing him and _knowing_ she could have him now gave her a lasting, persistent joy.

Still, it didn't mean Rose wasn't weary of trekking across a planet inhabited by aggressive insectoids and a crusade-driven Muramphian out to get them, and she told him so.

"Oh it's not so bad." The Doctor pointed at the grassy areas where the sun shone into a little grove. "Look, we've got green shag carpets. Central heating, although I must say the air conditioning is on the fritz, must do something about that. " He gestured openly around them. "Eco-friendly housing. Running water back there," he indicated with a thumb over his shoulder. His eyes caught on something near their trail as they passed. "Pets, too!" he added and slowed his pace to a stop as he studied the creature the size of a chihuahua clinging to the trunk of a tree close to the ground. His tone turned incredulous. "Like... korwi?"

Rose stared at it as the Doctor took a step closer. It was dark like mud with a laterally-segmented dorsal shell. It clung to the mossy bark with two large scythe-like legs and a series of lesser ones behind, altogether reminding Rose of a great big fat prawn. "_That's_ a korwi?"

The Doctor pointed vaguely. "Look at the tentacles," he insisted. Sure enough, two rope-like tentacles stretched forward from in front of the legs and lay along the tree. She recognised them.

"Oh my God, it is. They live in the wild!"

"Banished. Well, don't know if they see it that way. Hello, there!" the Doctor greeted warmly as he approached and crouched down. "Can you hear me, korwi?" The creature didn't move, so the Doctor shuffled right up to it and folded the end of the tentacle gently in his fingers.

The korwi jerked suddenly, clinging more tightly to the tree and pulling its other tentacle back, and Rose had to wonder if the Doctor had woken it up. It was no wonder they had needed the Bosthinats for protection in the past, she mused—the creature seemed pretty defenceless.

The korwi relaxed a bit, and the Doctor grinned and began speaking softly. "Oh, hello. Ah. No, you can't have me forever, just visiting. Oh, you don't _want_ me, well that's nice. A korwi with an attitude." Rose giggled and the Doctor shot her a confidential glance.

Rose watched him speak silently to the korwi for another moment before the Doctor suddenly recoiled his hand.

"Oh," he said in heavy disappointment. "Sorry for that."

"What?"

"I wanted to ask it about the Bosthinats, but it didn't like that much." The Doctor rubbed his rejected fingers together absently. "Shut me out."

Rose crouched down next to him. "Can I have a go?"

The Doctor was surprised but motioned encouragingly. He watched Rose curiously as she picked up the tentacle. The korwi pulled half-heartedly for a moment then stopped. The Doctor watched her face as she shut her eyes to concentrate. After a moment, a smile blossomed on her face.

"What?" he asked with a small smile and a touch of envy.

"It's speaking to me!" she said excitedly.

"Good, good!" the Doctor encouraged. He watched them, unaccustomed to being the one not to know. He thought about what he should direct her to say, but as he read her expressions, he concluded with astonishment that Rose seemed to be doing just fine on her own.

Rose opened her eyes and reached out her other hand to stroke the dusky shell. "I asked if she wants a friend. She said yes."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "_She?_"

"Yeah," Rose chuckled in a way that suggested she couldn't believe herself what she was able to do. She leaned forward, reaching past the shell to stroke the soft side of the korwi. The korwi quivered and Rose closed her eyes again, was still for a pensive moment, then looked to the Doctor. "Can we bring her with us?"

The Doctor frowned. "What would we do with her?"

Rose shrugged. "She wants protection, wants a friend. I said we would give her both."

The Doctor offered her a slow, lopsided grin and studied her. He didn't know if Rose knew what this could mean for the Bosthinats, but possibilities settled in his mind, and he marveled at Rose's way with the korwi. While he had unintentionally pushed the korwi away, Rose had befriended her and made her feel safe. "Oh, my clever, clever Rose. Yes, she's welcome to come with us." His grin disappeared. "But um, can you do me a favour? Tell her I'm sorry?"

Rose beamed and closed her eyes again. After a moment, she blindly reached for the Doctor's hand and guided it to rest on the korwi's shell. He watched in fascination as the korwi's other tentacle slithered like a cat's tail to wrap around his knuckles.

"Ohh, there we go! Hello again!"

Rose opened her eyes, and the Doctor and Rose grinned at each other as their new friend imbued them with affection.

Rose let go, intending to shift her hands so she could lift the korwi from the tree, but she was distracted by something wet where the flat side of the tentacle's tip had been resting against her fingers. She squinted and rubbed her thumb through the tiny spot of greasy, filmy liquid. It looked and felt like motor oil.

"What's that?" the Doctor said, peering closely.

"Dunno. It's from her tentacle." Rose sniffed at it and grimaced. The Doctor held her wrist and bent his head to sniff it himself. Rose's eyes widened. "Oh, no you don't. Don't you dare—" She felt the Doctor's tongue dart out and catch her skin and she wilted. "You didn't just taste it."

The Doctor averted his head and spit. "Wooh. Strong stuff." He pulled his other hand away from the korwi. "Just the barest trace from mine."

Rose touched the korwi again for a moment. "She says it happens when she's happy."

He nodded along and gave Rose a mock pout. "She likes you better, then." Then his eyes went wide. "A chemical. Pheromone." His voice escalated in volume as he spoke. "Ohhh, Rose!" He gripped her wrist and held her hand between them. "_This_ is what Sariel was hired to supply the Bosthinats, what she made us pull out of those two korwi on Chosthu. _This_ is what the Bosthinats sell across their planet as a perfume!"

Rose gaped in disbelief. "_Perfume?_"

"To make them function properly because they banished their symbionts," he remarked in disapproval.

Rose didn't understand, but there was one thing that she _did _know that didn't make sense. "Hang on though, I distinctly remember _not_ enjoying the experience and that's how Sariel wanted it."

"I know, but that's the thing. Remember when Sariel got a transmission from here? She was told the korwi would be useless because we gave them too much." He held out a hand to their korwi. "I assume the same would happen with her. If she were sated, she would stop producing this stuff, too."

Rose was nodding now. "But if you give just enough to keep her wanting more..."

The Doctor was grinning with discovery. "She keeps on producing. Ohh, brilliant. Well, someone is. It's a lot like putting a plaster on a broken leg—hardly fixes the problem, but it's something. They're right thick as a whole species."

"But Doctor, wouldn't those two korwi that fed from us feel badly as we did? Oh, but they couldn't!" she suddenly realised. "They wouldn't speak to us."

The Doctor grinned appreciatively. "You've got it! Their own personal barriers, just like the korwi seem to now have with all Bosthinats. They allow the energy to pass through but are able to block the emotions that go with it."

"Why didn't we get the chemical stuff on us back then, though?"

The Doctor frowned. "Good question." He took the korwi's tentacle Rose had been holding and rubbed his fingertips underneath the end, humming to himself. With his other hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his thick-rimmed glasses, expertly sliding them on in one smooth motion. The Doctor turned the diamond-shaped end over to peer at the pad, squinting closely in the fading forest light. Suckers lined the outer edge, and he could make out the indented gland's opening in the center of the pad. A deep groove extended from the center of the diamond and down the underside of the tentacle's length. "They must have bypassed it somehow to collect it." He ran a finger down along the groove. "Very specialised appendages. Maybe a tube down through here."

The korwi shifted suddenly, pulling its tentacles tight to its body and putting its scuttling legs into action down the tree trunk.

Rose tutted. "Think she's had enough of your prodding, Doctor." Rose reached for either side of the korwi's shell and lifted experimentally. The korwi protested, clinging to the tree and snaking its tentacles along her wrists. "Come on, I promise I won't drop you," Rose soothed. The korwi, apparently finding what it needed to know from her, finally let go and allowed herself to be picked up.

They stood. The Doctor pressed his hand under the korwi and winced, jerking his hand away before she could reach for him. "Sharp feet, don't want those digging into your skin." He moved closer, his arm extended in invitation, and Rose set the korwi on the arm of his coat. The korwi readily wrapped his arm in her crab-like embrace and began to climb with the scythe-like front feet. "Okay," he hedged. "I'll be honest, this _is_ a bit creepy." Rose smirked.

The korwi paused firmly wrapped around the Doctor's upper arm. Her tentacles slithered up his shoulder, searching. Apparently unsatisfied, she began to climb again.

Rose found the Doctor's uncertain expression quite amusing and she couldn't resist. "She's gonna eat you," she teased dramatically.

The tentacles brushed his neck, seeking contact. The Doctor encouraged the korwi towards his back, and she finally settled with her scythes hooked securely over his collar. He pulled the collar of his jacket out from under her grip, but the korwi kept readjusting and he gave up. "There, will that do? Stop fussing!"

"It's gonna have to," Rose laughed, but as she looked out into the distance she sobered somewhat. "It's getting dark, and I don't want to be in this forest for much longer."

"Agreed." The Doctor whipped his head to the side as the korwi's overzealous tentacle reached for his face. "Let's go."


	13. Friends in Dark Places

The Doctor, Rose, and their new korwi friend emerged from the forest to find themselves at the edge of a city. The fading light of day struggled through the heavy dark clouds that had formed together as they had travelled through the wood.

"A storm's coming on," the Doctor noted.

"At least we finally made it!" Rose said in relief.

The Doctor frowned in mock offence. "Rose Tyler, did you doubt me? Have I ever steered you wrong?"

Rose raised her eyebrows at him. "Mm, a century here, a year there..."

"In space, not time. Time doesn't count. Time is... well—"

"—Your speciality? _Time_ Lord?"

"Oi, I'll make you carry sharp-footed squiddy here if you keep it up." The Doctor pointed over his shoulder at the korwi hanging onto the back of his collar.

Rose only grinned back at him and turned her attention to the outskirts of Gur'kurk, squinting as she tried to make out any people. "Think the locals will be friendly?"

The Doctor followed her line of sight. "Hard to say. I suppose it's possible Lura has influence here, but hopefully the majority of the population isn't aware of us."

"But you said Bosthinats as a whole don't trust people, that they're aggressive."

He frowned in thought. "I did, didn't I? Well I'm starting to wonder if I was wrong about them, if Fla'ri'kikitch is anyone to go by. At least in this era. Then again, our friend could be one of few." He sighed. "Whatever they're like, we can't get off this planet by sticking to the wild, and I'd rather take my chances with Gur'kurk than back at Lura's."

"Yeah," Rose agreed. She looked up then as a fat droplet of rain spattered against her hair.

-^^-W-^^-

Thunder rolled as they passed the first of the outermost buildings of the city. Night had fallen somewhat early with the help of the heavy clouds obscuring the sky. Rain had long since soaked Rose through. The occasional streetlamp illuminated the rain and the wet cobblestones along the deserted winding alleys. Rose looked on at the warm glowing open doorways in envy, feeling alien and more part of the wilderness than a part of these people. Everyone was inside, dry and sheltered.

Rose skipped a couple steps forward to reach for the Doctor's hand and thread her fingers through his. He spared her a quick glance and a squeeze of her hand before turning his attention back outward, keeping vigilant of their surroundings. Rose wondered if the Doctor was looking for a proper alley with cover for the night or if he would insist on dragging her through the entire city. She was exhausted and hungry, but survival demanded they keep moving and stay alert. She would follow the Doctor until she couldn't go any further.

They wandered for what felt like hours. The rain had subsided for quite a while, allowing them to hear and see further. Occasionally someone could be seen jaunting through the street at a hurried pace, and the Doctor would pull Rose to the side of a building and wait for the person to pass, just to be safe. After a while, though, it began to rain again in earnest.

The Doctor led Rose across a garden and through an archway into what appeared to be a sort of public square. If they found themselves needing to run, Rose wasn't sure which way was closest to the edge of town and at this point wouldn't know which way to go. She wondered if the Doctor was going in some sort of pattern or if he had been moving purposefully but aimlessly the whole time. It was just another street with more stone and rain and a maze of directions.

"Doctor and Rose Tyler?" a hushed voice called out from the edge of the square. Both turned abruptly, staring into the shadow.

"Who wants to know?" the Doctor tested, holding his arm protectively in front of Rose.

The shape of a Bosthinat emerged, the shiny chitinous profile shining a dark green on one side in the streetlamp. "You... are the Doctor, the mindfeeler, the friend of korwi?" It pointed at him then, its creaky voice turning incredulous. "You _have_ a korwi?"

"I am," the Doctor agreed, and Rose could sense his tension abate somewhat. "And I do. How do you know of us?" He was pretty sure there was only one reason for the way it would address them the way it had, but he wasn't going to offer any information.

Its voice became barely audible and it ducked its body in both directions nervously. "Fla'ri'kikitch sent me!" it clicked, sounding annoyed it had to even say so. It waved them impatiently over. "Come! Out of the light!"

Rose was eager to follow but waited as the Doctor glanced around them before moving towards the Bosthinat. As soon as it saw them moving, it began to creep down the shadowy part of a street away from the square.

None of the streets or buildings looked familiar to Rose, but that didn't mean they hadn't been through here. She was completely lost.

Lightning flashed, illuminating the Bosthinat's profile, and thunder followed a few seconds later. They moved through an alleyway behind a row of residences. Their guide turned between a pair of them and held out its hand to stop the Doctor and Rose before emerging into the light of the streetlamp itself and looking around. It disappeared around the corner and they could hear it knocking, apparently on a door. As they waited, Rose could see the stones in front of the building flooded in a warm orange as the door was opened.

There was a pause before the Bosthinat darted back into view, waved them forward and ushered them into the interior of the house and out of the rain.

After the past day and night, being inside felt very strange but the rock walls made it comfortably cool comparatively, and to Rose it was an immense relief. There were two Bosthinats standing in the small living area watching them enter. Their guide closed the door behind them and the one in front of a bench at a table spoke first.

"We've actually _found_ you!"

"I am vigilant," their guide complained.

The third Bosthinat hurried to the kitchenette and began bustling about. "You must be hungry. We learned what you eat! It will be ready soon."

Their attention was drawn back to the other Bosthinat. It was leaning to the side, trying to look around the Doctor. "Is that... a korwi?"

The first Bosthinat moved fully into the room. "It is. Fla'ri'kikitch tells truth. The Doctor and Rose Tyler will save us!"

"Is Fla'ri'kikitch here?" Rose asked.

Their guide shook its head calmly. "No, Fla'ri'kikitch still serves the Ambassador."

Rose nodded, assuming that meant their friend hadn't been accused of aiding in their escape. "So what's your name, then?" she asked, paying close attention in preparation for the unfamiliar sounds.

"Kerr'kipik," it introduced with a bow. "I was lucky you came through on my watch."

"Kerr'jakidu," the other said and pointed to the Bosthinat in the kitchen. "That is Kerr'delki." Kerr'delki spared a moment for a little wave.

Rose grinned. "Kerr'delki," she said, and Kerr'jakidu nodded. She attempted the other two but had to be corrected, and finally she got all three of them and noticed they all started with "Kerr." "Hang on, are you all family?" All three nodded. "So the first part of your names is your family name."

"It is," Kerr'jakidu said. "We use our full names with introductions and when referring to those not with us, but it is common to use short names among family and friends, or when someone is near." The Bosthinat bowed its head. "I would be honored if you called me 'Jakidu.'"

Rose beamed. "Jakidu it is, then. And Fla'ri'kikitch would be... Ri'kikitch? Or..."

"Kikitch," Jakidu supplied with a strange laughing noise.

"Kikitch! And you can call me Rose."

Jakidu reared back slightly in surprise. "Rose is not your family name?" Rose shook her head, amused. "Backwards!"

"Aliens..." Delki reminded from the stove.

"Manners!" Kipik said and marched past the kitchen into the narrow hallway. It came back with three towels and offered two to the Doctor and Rose before using the third on itself. "So sorry! Your flesh must be uncomfortable."

They took their towels gratefully. "Thank you," Rose said. "What I really want is a shower. I don't suppose your people use those?

Kipik looked insulted. "Of course we do. We find hot water very soothing. I would think showers would hurt you."

Rose looked hesitant. "I suppose it depends on the showerhead."

The Bosthinat extended a welcoming hand toward the hallway. "Please try if you wish, Rose."

"Eat first!" Delki said from the kitchen. It turned with two bowls and set them on the small table against the wall in the living area. "Please, sit."

There was seating for three. Rose went to the table while the Doctor gingerly removed the korwi, and while he brushed it past the wall near the door, it caught on the textured surface of the stones, so he just left it to hang there. The Doctor and Rose took places opposite each other at the table next to the back wall while Kipik sat on the outside. Jakidu and Delki sat on benches against the outer wall a few metres away.

Rose watched the three of them. "So how are you all related?"

The three looked at each other and Kipik turned to Rose. "Siblings," it said, as if it were obvious.

"Right, 'course," Rose said. Honestly, she couldn't even tell them apart.

The Doctor held the bowl of meaty substance to his nose. The fact that Bosthinats didn't seem to use cutlery didn't appear to bother him at all, and he picked up a piece and popped it into his mouth.

"What is it?" Rose asked in curiosity.

He shook his head as he chewed. "Dunno. Good, though."

Rose raised an eyebrow and tried some herself. She was very hungry, so she really didn't know or care if it was good.

"You seemed very eager to find us," the Doctor said.

"We were! You promised to couple Kikitch with a korwi, promised that you can, like our ancestors."

Rose blushed a bit and peered at the Doctor over her bowl, but he didn't seem flustered in the least.

"I believe I can, yes." He gestured to the korwi clutching the wall. "This lonely korwi here would be an excellent candidate, once she gets over her genetically-programmed phobia of Bosthinats."

There was a pause in conversation as they ate, the Bosthinats apparently in quiet contemplation, and Rose's eyes went from the korwi to the door. "I noticed you have a door, but lots of buildings don't."

Kerr'delki, sitting next to Kerr'jakidu, answered with a nod. "Our house is small. The larger houses are made so that they do not need them."

Kerr'jakidu put a hand on Delki's. "We will have a house with no door, once the Doctor finds us our own korwi and we help others to find theirs."

The Doctor grinned. "I like your thinking, Jakidu. A dreamer. Big picture." He put his bowl down, having made short work of the meal. "I promised Fla'ri'kikitch a korwi, and I've brought one. Will our friend be joining us?"

"We hope in a few days," Kerr'kipik said. The Doctor nodded, understanding Fla'ri'kikitch's predicament, and Rose shivered, drawing his eye.

"For now, go rest!" Delki insisted and stood to shoo them off. You can stay in Kerr'kipik's room in the back. Use the shower if it pleases you. Go on!"

"Go ahead, Rose. You first," the Doctor said. "I'm gonna stay and chat a bit and I'll be in after you."

Rose nodded to him, eager to see if the shower was everything she hoped it would be. In the back of her mind, a voice told her to invite the Doctor to join her, but she immediately squelched it. The Doctor's eyes lingered on hers a bit longer than she expected they should, however, and she wondered if he was thinking the same thing.

-^^-W-^^-

The room wasn't spacious, but it had a bed. It wasn't as large or inviting as the one Rose had aboard the TARDIS, though. For one, her own bed had sheets. The Bosthinats probably didn't even know what sheets were. The blanket thrown haphazardly across the mattress appeared warm but not as well made as what she was used to. Still, it was the first bed Rose had seen in days and she wasn't about to complain.

Judging by the vents along the ceiling and the soft humming sound, the room seemed to be well-ventilated like the rest of the house. There was no closet, which wasn't surprising since Bosthinats didn't wear clothing. A lamp on the bureau washed the room in a soft, warm light and reflected off the smooth, polished rock of the walls.

Rose lifted the blanket and breathed in its scent. Thankfully it smelled new and unused like the Bosthinat said. She dropped it back to the bed and sat on it, curling her legs under her, and began to thread her fingers through her hair. She wished she had a comb.

There was a soft knock on the door.

"Come in," Rose said. The Doctor peeked in, saw she was decent, and let himself in and closed the door quietly behind him. Rose's heart skipped a beat as he came fully into view and tossed his coat and jacket over the bureau. His thick dark hair was damp and disheveled. The grey undershirt hugged his torso, showing off his lean-muscled frame with slightly darkened patches from drying off from his shower in a hurry. He ruffled his hands briskly through his hair, leaving it to stick up in all directions.

He seemed to fill the room with his presence when he entered, a light brighter and warmer than the bedroom lamp. He was her Doctor, her companion everywhere and anywhen they went, and he was gorgeous and he was hers and she loved him almost more than she could bear.

"Hello," she greeted with a bright smile.

The Doctor matched her smile. "Hello." His eyes roved down over her as she played with her hair and seemed to catch on the way she was sitting comfortably on the bed. "Nice shower," he said in approval.

"Mm, very nice, although they have no shampoo. Rich enough soaps worked though." Rose pinched the corner of the blanket. "Blankets may be uncommon, but they have an appreciation for hot water." As the Doctor nodded and took a moment to look about the room, Rose asked, "Do you have a comb by chance?"

"Hm? Oh, yes, should have," he said and moved to the bureau to search through his coat pocket. He produced a small comb and showed it to her. Rose nodded and held out her hand, but the Doctor took a step towards her and held it out of reach. "Here, I'll give you a hand."

Rose raised her eyebrows. "You want to comb my hair?"

"That all right?" the Doctor said, settling himself behind Rose on the bed and not really asking. She glanced sidelong at him, her expression bemused. He tested the comb on her hair, but it stuck immediately, so he pulled the comb out some and began stroking it through the upper layer.

Rose wasn't patient enough for either of them to suffer any longer, so she half turned and took the comb from him. "Here, like this." She took the comb to the ends of her hair and pulled it firmly through, steadily taking in longer sections of hair.

The Doctor's eyes lit up in understanding. "Ooh, brilliant! I've got it." He took the comb back and began working at Rose's hair little by little. Rose sighed in relaxation at the feeling of someone combing her hair and thought of her mum. It wasn't a brush, but it would do. A thrill of excitement then prickled through her. She had never thought the Doctor would ever do such a thing, and here he was doing the unlikely. Rose delighted in thoughts of other unlikely things she had never considered now being possible.

When he was finished, the Doctor gathered her hair in his hands, gently smoothing it back. "Your hair is so shiny," he remarked appreciatively.

"Must be drying fast, then," Rose chuckled. "Which is crazy, because even though it's not as humid in here as outside, it's still not quite like the TARDIS. So, where's the korwi?"

"Out in the room where I left her," the Doctor said from behind Rose as he continued to play with her hair. "I dabbed at her with the towel a bit and told her she was among friends and that she'd be left alone for the night." His voice became amused. "She seemed perfectly content to sleep right there on the wall."

Rose laughed a little. "Where's Kipik gonna sleep?"

"Out there in the living area. Kipik assured me it's fine."

Rose nodded at this. "What about Fla'ri'kikitch? We left it all alone back there." She furrowed her brow in worry, and her heart started to beat a little faster. "We promised to get it a korwi. What if they find out Kikitch helped us and go after it?"

"They probably would have by now. Kipik said Kikitch is fine. _If_ for some reason they catch on... well, we would just have to rescue our friend, wouldn't we?"

"And if they did catch on? What if they make Kikitch talk and find out where we went, where we are now, that we're with its friends?"

"Shh, shh, shh," the Doctor insisted, wrapping an arm around Rose to pull her close and nuzzle the back of her ear. "Don't worry about that tonight. We're safe now, hidden away, among friends." He bit gently at her ear, eliciting a favourable response from Rose. "Tucked away in our own room, just the two of us..." He breathed in through her hair and decided they would have to pick up some Bosthinat soaps before leaving.

"On someone else's bed..." Rose reminded him, although she was quickly losing self control and wondered how they would possibly sleep through the night in the same room.

"Mm, I'll buy them a new one," the Doctor growled.

Rose flushed then at what needing to buy a new bed actually implied and turned herself in the Doctor's embrace. His eyes were penetrating, burning into hers with more passion and intent than she had ever seen and it took her breath away. Those eyes finally shifted downward, and a moment later the Doctor had pressed his mouth to hers in a deep-stroking kiss.

Before Rose knew it, she was gasping with desire for him and was startled at how quickly she had succumbed to the Doctor's touch, especially considering how knackered she was. It was as if ages of repressed desire had come over her all at once. She rose up on her knees to face him fully, seeking to bring more of herself in contact with him. The Doctor sensed what Rose was trying to do and rose up on his knees with her to pull her flush against his body. Rose sighed into his mouth and pressed into him, running her hands up the back of his shirt.

They were content to cling to each other in this way for some time, alternating between heavy snogging and pulling each other closer with Rose's head tucked under the Doctor's due to their height difference. It was in one of these moments that Rose turned her head to kiss his collarbone, then higher where she drew his skin between her teeth, causing him tighten his hold on her.

The Doctor lowered his head and kissed up the column of her neck, favoring a point just under her jaw. Rose's head fell back in response and she moaned. He moved to the other side and nipped possessively. Rose moaned again and pushed into him. She shifted her legs to straddle his lap and within moments she began to move just slightly, possibly subconsciously in a faint, intimate rhythm against him. The Doctor gasped at the intensity of the moment. Here in his arms he held his Rose, her offering of sensual warmth and softness. He released a vibrating groan into her neck, and he found himself beginning to mirror her movements.

Pulling back, the Doctor lifted her head until she opened her eyes. Her eyes were dilated, deep pools of desire staring into his. He matched her fervent gaze, looking into her soul and wondering if Rose could possibly fill the void hidden away in his. Never had he felt so close to anyone with the promise of a fulfilling connection.

The Doctor pulled his upper thigh up to press into the warmth of her groin. Rose cried out softly and tightened her hold across his back. He caught hold of her mouth with his own in another searing kiss before tipping his forehead to hers and gently bump her nose with his.

"Oh Rose, I love this," he breathed.

"I want to be yours, Doctor," Rose whispered abruptly. "Please."

His hearts skipped at her impassioned request. He hugged her tightly to him and growled, "Oh, I want you."

Rose smoothed her hands up the front of his shirt and framed the Doctor's face, her fingertips teasing the hair of his sideburns and the soft flesh behind his ears. She raised her head back enough so that she could look into his eyes. "I know it's not among the most posh of places we've stayed overnight, but I don't care. When we get off Bosthinatia we can go somewhere nice, but right now..." Rose worried her lip for a moment as the Doctor hung on her every move. "I don't want another day to go by without knowing you completely. I want," Rose dropped her hands to fist in his shirt and tug at him, "I want to face... whatever comes tomorrow as one. With you."

"Rose," the Doctor rasped, the overwhelming emotion welling up and seeping into his voice. The reality of what she was begging for scared him. He wanted forever, a bonding ceremony proclaiming to the universe their union, but they didn't necessarily have to wait for it. It could come after, if Rose agreed to it. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Doctor," Rose nodded with certainty, her voice confident despite its unsteadiness. She looked him right in the eye. "You and me, forever."

The Doctor's breath escaped in shaky puffs between parted lips. Their commitment to each other was what was important right now. "And you're not just saying that. 'Cause of this." He flexed his leg into her.

Rose gaped in surprise. "Don't insult me!"

"Oh, I wouldn't dare!" the Doctor replied automatically, letting slip a completely inappropriate giggle. He couldn't help himself—she was just so _cute_.

Rose vowed to give him _her_ forever, and that was all he needed. Resolution settled within him and shone from his eyes. He grinned widely with joy at her words, his eyes crinkling at the corners, then sobered in preparation for his own vow to her.

"Oh, my Rose. You mean more to me than anything else, and that frightens me. You're the most beautiful, brave and amazing complement to my soul I could ever ask for. I want nothing more than to share myself with you, completely and utterly." He slipped a hand between them and clasped hers. "I take you as my bond mate, joining us as one, now and forever."

Tears pricked at Rose's eyes, and she beamed at him. The Doctor studied her face and and let go of her hand to press his own against her back. His other hand moved to support against the bed behind him as he twisted and guided Rose around him towards the pillow. Their eyes never left each other's face as they gently sank to the blanket, and the Doctor and Rose claimed a common mattress within the borrowed room of a humble house in the city of Gur'kurk on the planet Bosthinatia Prime as their wedding bed.


	14. Bonding

This chapter has been heavily edited for the rating system. Thank you for all for your encouraging reviews (which have been preserved here instead of merging this with the last chapter), as they are all considered in response to the full version, which can be found on Teaspoon. I couldn't remove the chapter completely, as this part is necessary to understand the rest of the story.

* * *

><p>The Doctor gave himself to Rose, learning what pleased her, and she did her fair share of exploring his own body. Neither could want for greater physical compatibility. While Rose was emotionally sated, the Doctor found his own Gallifreyan yearnings sudden and without warning, needing her not just in body but in mind. The impulse had come out of the depths of his being, a primal and desperate and sudden need.<p>

He hadn't asked Rose beforehand for permission, hadn't thought to ask yet. "Please, Rose. Please..." he pled of her, the broken words all he could manage.

"Yes," Rose breathed as she slowly released her hold on him and lowered herself to look into his eyes.

The Doctor hadn't been clear, but Rose sounded so completely sure. He wanted her so badly, and in his charged state he chose instinct over reason. The Doctor shifted his weight to his left arm and brought his right up to her head. His first two fingers pressed to her temple, but his mind reached beyond flesh and bone.

Rose gasped as the Doctor's fevered mind opened to her, the torrent of his pleasure slamming into her and spiraling with her own.

The Doctor stared into her eyes as he surrendered to the incoming flood. Rose's eyes rolled back, and as he dropped his head forward to kiss her, he soon followed her into sightless bliss. Tail down, feral, lupine eyes dropped in a bowed head before him. Layers of time, back through Rose's few short years of life crashed over him in wave after wave, the lovers' strong physical connection acting as an amplifier.

The Doctor bellowed into her mouth as his soul fused to hers, and Time itself separated from him for one sacred moment. Perception of his surroundings gradually returned. Tension drained from his body and lethargy dragged at his limbs, and the Doctor opened his eyes. Rose appeared unconscious, but he could still feel her essence coursing through him, eagerly and actively searching him. Gently, the Doctor lowered them fully to rest on the borrowed Bosthinatian blanket, rolling them onto their sides to rest more comfortably.

All confusion and doubt as to whether their species were mismatched now seemed to be a silly, childish notion to the Doctor. He nuzzled Rose's face and she opened her eyes. His mind was pleasantly full, sated in a way he couldn't remember ever feeling before. He tried to catch her eye the times he pulled back far enough, but Rose wasn't seeing him. Worry momentarily gripped his exhausted hearts, but the feel of her presence within reassured him. She was a bit overwhelmed and it wasn't really a biological blindness. Rest was what she needed.

The Doctor folded part of the blanket over them, nuzzled close and closed his eyes. They fell asleep together, the Doctor chasing after Rose's dreams.


	15. Visitors

Merry Christmas, everyone! Or Happy Christmas, whatever you like. This is the last chapter for the holidays. The last three should be posted early January (I still have to write them...). I thank you all for your feedback, especially those of you I have spoken with more in depth. You know who you are. ^_~

-^^-W-^^-

They had come apart in sleep. The Doctor's nose was buried in Rose's neck. He breathed in deeply, savouring her scent and relishing the joy he felt at being so close to her.

He brushed her thoughts and found her to be very actively dreaming, not settling on one particular moment. It was somewhat confusing, but he recognised snatches of his past lives.

Suddenly, a loud banging on the front door followed by the image of the door swinging open to Sariel exploded in her mind. The Doctor gasped in surprise and jumped, and Rose's eyes snapped open. They stared face to face in confusion.

"Here?" the Doctor said in a hushed voice.

"Looked like it."

The Doctor and Rose scrambled out of bed, hunting for their clothes. Rose found her top first, not bothering with her bra. As she pulled her hair out of her collar, her jeans landed at her feet as the Doctor picked through their garments for his own.

The trouble ahead was an everyday thing, nothing special. The fact that they were rushing to face it in their unfamiliar new state together solidified in Rose just how real their bonding had been and would affect them in the future. Rose almost laughed out loud with excitement as she entertained the way it would spin their new adventures.

Had Rose dreamed the image up in response to the sound of someone banging on the door, a sound she didn't remember hearing, or was it simply a fantasy of her own mind? "Did you hear it?" she hissed. "Like, actually hear it?"

The Doctor paused to look at her before drawing his trousers up his long legs. "I'm not sure," he whispered harshly. "It could've come from your head. Or I could've heard it. I dunno, I was half asleep!"

Rose was tugging her jeans on when the Doctor had finished with his shirt. He didn't bother with his trainers and hopped from one foot to the other while he waited for her. As soon as she had zipped, the Doctor cracked open the door, peered through, then opened it wide and left the room. Rose hurried out after him.

The living space was black and silent, asleep, the front door firmly closed. Rose let out a relieved breath and took the Doctor's hand. He gave it a squeeze in the dark, but he was still looking around the space, searching. He pulled her forward and stepped into the middle of the room. Rose could make out a dark shape lying on the bench against the outer wall. The Doctor had said Kerr'kipik would be sleeping here.

"Doctor? Rose?" the shape grated sleepily and began to stir.

"Ah, sorry, Kipik. Didn't mean to wake you," the Doctor said, matching Kipik's low volume.

"Please don't apologise," Kipik said and sat up. "Your rest is our priority." It then made a rough sort of laughing sound. "We did not need to start sleeping until you did."

Kipik didn't out and say it, but Rose blushed furiously anyway and was thankful that no one could see it in the dark.

"Good. Thanks for that, by the way," the Doctor replied in a frustratingly level tone. It sounded to Rose like the Doctor either just thanked Kipik for the use of its room, for not barging in on them, or perhaps both.

A savage pounding on the door exploded in the quiet and all three of them jumped, severely startled. The Doctor and Rose turned to each other in the dark. They both knew _exactly _who it was.

Rose assumed Kipik wouldn't have a clue, however, probably wondering who would be knocking in the dead of night, but the Bosthinat immediately rushed into the hallway. She could hear hushed clicking and realised it was waking the other two up. Of course, Rose thought. These three Bosthinats were rebels and knew the trouble they were into. It was probably a way of life for them.

Someone pounded on the door again, and Kipik rushed out into the room. The Doctor pointed to Kipik and then the door, but Rose wasn't sure the Bosthinat even saw him and appeared to be going for the door anyway. The Doctor gripped Rose's hand tighter and pulled her back against the wall, behind where the door would open.

Rose was startled and almost squeaked when something dropped onto her shoulder and slapped against the side of her face. When she felt the questioning thoughts of the korwi in her mind, however, she immediately puffed her lungs clear.

_Are we in danger, Rose Tyler?_

_Yes, korwi. People are coming into our home who wish to hurt us._

_Enemies!_

_Yes!_

_We will fight!_

_Yes, we will._

The korwi showed Rose what she planned to do to help, and Rose grinned delightedly into the darkness.

She squeezed the Doctor's hand. Rose's mind was fuzzy, but for some reason she felt compelled to try to communicate with him wordlessly. She focused hard on projecting to him that he should go for someone further away and leave whoever was closer to her. Pain began to seep into her head from the exertion, and Rose wasn't sure he got the message until he squeezed her hand back and there was a feeling of agreement from him.

Before Kerr'kipik could reach the door, there was a loud bang as the door was violently forced open. The Doctor caught the door before it could slam into him. Soft light from the street seemed bright as it flooded into the room. Kipik immediately backed up against the table at the far wall, its hands raised in surrender. A muscular man followed purposefully with a weapon leveled on the Bosthinat. Another man followed behind him, sweeping the hallway and kitchen area with his own weapon, but neither saw the Doctor and Rose behind the door.

A woman entered behind the two men. Sariel.

The Doctor suddenly shoved the door towards its frame when Sariel had cleared it. Before the room was plunged back into darkness, Rose saw the Doctor lunge for the farther man. Rose blindly launched herself in Sariel's direction and collided with her. Men shouted and Bosthinats clacked.

Rose managed to get a grip around Sariel's upper arms from behind. Sariel shoved her backwards into the door and almost knocked the breath out of her, but she held on.

A lamp flicked on from the kitchen and Rose squinted over. She had no idea which one of the Bosthinats was at the switch, but the other caught sight of Nash flailing in surprise at the korwi on his shoulder and rushed forward to restrain him. Rose looked over Sariel's other shoulder as she struggled in Rose's grip and saw the Doctor restraining Gelry in a similar fashion. One weapon clattered to the floor, followed by the other.

The Doctor surveyed the new scene before them and grinned triumphantly. "Sariel, Gelry and Nash! Well now, this is an interesting 'hello,' isn't it?" He handed Gelry over to Kipik and looked towards Rose, but his eyes were on Sariel. "Just the three of you, is it?"

"You were sleeping," Sariel hissed. "Just a few minutes ago, in that back room. I _scanned_."

He nodded and reached up to tug on his ear. "We were. And then we weren't."

The one Bosthinat not holding onto Gelry or Nash came from somewhere with a fistful of cord and approached Sariel. "I've got it, Rose." Delki? Yes, this one was Delki. The Bosthinat took Sariel from her and walked her towards the bench Kipik had been sleeping on.

"Get this thing _off _me!" Nash growled. Rose looked over to see the korwi crawling over him in agitation as his captor, who must have been Kerr'jakidu, held his arms fast. There were spots of blood on his shoulders from the korwi's pointy feet, and Rose felt pity for the man.

"She's a korwi," Rose informed him. Walking over, she stroked a hand over the korwi's back. One tentacle wrapped backwards along her arm, and the korwi calmed enough for Rose to pick her up. "You know, those _things _you were helping to feed us to on Chosthu. Not so defenceless when not imprisoned in a tank, are they?"

"So!" the Doctor began brightly and coughed into his fist as Rose placed the korwi back on the wall. "Let's have a chat, shall we? I love a good chat. To what do we owe your visit?" As if he didn't know. The Doctor put his hand to his chest and made a face. "Although, I'm sorry, I really could use a glass of water. Had a rather... 'active' night. And day, really. And... well," the Doctor ended, abandoning the line of thought. "Rose, how 'bout you?"

Rose blushed slightly and nodded, used to the Doctor's sudden turns in conversation. "Parched."

"Delki, would you be so kind?" the Doctor asked, and Rose was impressed to find he identified the right Bosthinat. "I'd get it myself, but..."

"I will serve!" Kerr'delki sprang toward the kitchen.

"It's rather rude to pop by before sunrise, by the way," the Doctor continued.

Sariel narrowed her eyes at the Doctor from where she now had her hands tied behind her on the bench against the wall. "The Ambassador will find you, Doctor. She's on her way right now."

"Is she, now." The Doctor nodded in as he absorbed this. Rose stood next to the Doctor and wondered if Sariel was lying, but she was fearful that she most likely was not. "And you wanted to have us fit and tied before she got here. Everything under control, that right?" Sariel merely glared at him.

Kerr'delki paused in the kitchen with the glasses and exclaimed, "The Muramphian is coming _here_?"

"We must run!" Kerr'jakidu added.

"I don't think so," the Doctor said, his voice firm. "Not this time." Rose only gazed at him. "There's a time to run and there's a time to fight."

"We would be outnumbered," Kerr'kipik insisted.

"By Bosthinats, yes," the Doctor agreed, now looking around the room at each of the Kerrs. He gestured with pinched fingers before him as he spoke clearly and dramatically. "Lura is one, commanding their loyalty because of what she can provide to your entire species. How loyal would her guard be to her, how much of a cultural _shock _would it be if they saw the korwi accepting one of you?" The Bosthinats looked to one another.

"What are you on about?" Sariel laughed in disbelief. "Korwi won't accept Bosthinats, full stop. That's why I have a job."

"See, it's thinking like that," the Doctor countered irritably and pointed at her. "You just lost the right to even speak to me." He turned to Kerr'delki. "How's the water coming, Delki?"

Kerr'delki flicked its head, as if coming to its senses and resumed its task, quickly filling the glasses and bringing them to the Doctor and Rose. Rose immediately began to drink.

The Doctor accepted his glass gratefully. "Has anyone tried? To communicate with korwi," the Doctor asked in Kerr'jakidu's direction before gulping down water.

"Of course. Korwi won't speak to us anymore. We evolved beyond them."

The Doctor frowned and licked his lips dry. "If that were true you wouldn't still depend on them and they would be happy."

Kerr'jakidu cocked its head. "Why do you say korwi are not happy?"

"You just said they don't speak to you," he said as if it were obvious.

"Why do you bloody care about them, anyway?" Gelry shot at the Doctor. Rose looked at Gelry, surprised by his outburst, but the Doctor rounded readily on him, and by the way her lover spoke she wondered if he was _waiting _for it.

"Why don't _you_, I might ask?" the Doctor set down the glass on the table and took a step towards Gelry, folding his hands behind him and leaning in. "What is it _you _care about?"

Gelry frowned and fidgeted in Kerr'kipik's grasp. "None of your business."

Rose suddenly felt a wave of compassion come over her. Her eyes flicked to the Doctor. She wasn't in his peripheral vision, but when she looked at him, he immediately turned to glance at her.

As soon as their eyes connected, she could sense the emotion had come from him, as if the embodiment of the feeling came across as a watermarked image flashing across his face. He almost immediately turned away from her.

"I forgive you Gelry."

"What?"

"I forgive you," the Doctor repeated seriously, his face compassionate. "Just know that."

They gazed at each other for a long moment. Rose marvelled at the Doctor. She had felt what he was thinking! Was this part of the bond thing? And what was he forgiving Gelry for? He hadn't been very nice to either of them. Is that what he was talking about?

The Doctor suddenly turned to Nash. "If there was a way out of this that could reunite two species of an entire planet, a way to earn your way that didn't involve torturing innocent people in the most personal of ways... if there was a better way, would you take it?"

Nash stared at the Doctor. Kerr'jakidu, restraining Nash from behind, looked from the Doctor to his captive. Nash swallowed. "Yes."

"Nash!" Gelry hissed.

"I would though!" Nash yelled, his voice breaking. "You're wrong Gelry. What we're doing is wrong. If Gina only knew what we were doing for her sake..."

"You shut it," Gelry warned.

"I'm not doing it anymore," Nash declared with finality. "Sariel uses it as leverage on us, but the Doctor says he can help and I believe him."

"Don't you dare bring her into this—"

"She's _already _in it! Always has been."

"Who the hell is Gina?" Sariel asked. Gelry dropped his head back in surrender.

"Our sister," Nash clarified bitterly. "Not that you actually care."

"You said your mum..."

"Mum's dead. We didn't want you hunting Gina down and doing something stupid."

"You're brothers," Rose said in discovery.

"What'll it be, Gelry?" the Doctor asked, his voice soft now. Gelry, head back, was staring at the ceiling. The Doctor turned to face him fully. "Gelry, look at me." The man hesitated for a moment but took a deep breath and glared back into the Doctor's face. "Are you with your brother on this?"

A muscle in Gelry's strong jaw twitched. His eyes darted back and forth at the Doctor's, and then the hardness of his expression slowly melted and he averted his eyes to the floor near Rose's feet. "I'm sorry," he said. After a moment of gathering his courage, he met Rose's eyes.

Rose pursed her lips and gave him a half-smile. Oh, the glorious things the Doctor could do, she thought. As soon as she had nodded to him, Gelry returned his eyes to the floor. Nash stared at his brother, his mouth agape.

The Doctor nodded. "Let them go," he said as he watched Gelry. He and Nash abruptly looked up at him. The Bosthinats just stood looking at each other, so the Doctor looked at them in turn. "Kipik? Jakidu?"

The two men relaxed but appeared bewildered as their captors released them. Gelry rubbed his arms, and the Doctor again looked into his eyes.

"You've given me your trust," he said. "And I'm giving you mine."

Moisture pricked Gelry's eyes. "She's sick," he said, his voice going in the way Nash's had. "Doctor, she's so sick."

The Doctor raised his hand to grip Gelry's shoulder encouragingly and shook him slightly in the way blokes did. "I promise I'll do what I can," he said earnestly.

Gelry nodded and extended his hand. The corner of the Doctor's mouth turned up and clasped Gelry's arm in agreement.

"What about me?" Sariel whined, still tied up in the corner. "I won't make any trouble."

All pleasantness disappeared from the Doctor's face. "You can just sit there and shut up, or I'll have you gagged." Sariel sneered at him. The Doctor turned to the others, excited once again. "So! Who's up for a bit of deviancy? Rose? Get the korwi." He clapped his hands, rubbed them together, and bobbed his eyebrows at her. "We're about to dabble in some revolutionary introductions."

-^^-W-^^-

"Who's first?" the Doctor asked, looking from one Bosthinat to another.

Rose brought the korwi over to the Doctor. She held her by the sides of the shell. Two tentacles waved around in front of her searchingly, prawn-like feet sticking out underneath expectantly, waiting to be set down on something. Rose grinned sympathetically down at her. The korwi really had no idea what was about to happen.

Kerr'kipik stared at the korwi for a moment then looked at the Doctor. "I will accept it," Kipik said. "Err, 'her,' I think? I will accept 'her'?"

The Doctor grinned at Kipik and slapped a hand on its armored shoulder. "Good bug." With his other hand, he pointed at the floor. "Crouch down here." He then beckoned towards Rose and gestured towards Kipik's back after it obediently folded its legs neatly together like a grasshopper.

Kerr'jakidu and Kerr'delki crouched down to one side to watch while Gelry and Nash stood on the other side further away. Rose set the clingy korwi on Kipik's mantle, its feet gripping harmlessly to the Bosthinat's chitinous body. It crawled a moment and, as if discovering the species it was standing on, began waving its tentacles back up at Rose. Kerr'kipik turned its head, one of its large eyes regarding the creature curiously.

"It doesn't like me."

"No, she doesn't," the Doctor observed. He crouched in front of Kipik and snatched one of the korwi's tentacles. "Face me," he said. Kipik obeyed, and the Doctor pulled the tentacle around the Bosthinat's head. He took the other tentacle end in his other hand, and the korwi was forced to stand behind Kipik's head while the Doctor rested both of his hands on Kipik's shoulders. The Doctor closed his eyes, communicating with the korwi.

After a moment, the korwi stopped pulling against the Doctor's grasp. The Doctor opened his eyes and pressed one tentacle end on Kipik's head, just behind its eye. Kipik shuddered.

"You okay?"

"Yes. It is just... a significant moment."

"Is she speaking to you?"

"No."

The Doctor nodded and shut his eyes. Rose assumed by the way they were connected that he had formed them into a three-way ring of contact. "That's right, Kipik. Let me in."

Rose studied his face. The Doctor was poking the roof of his mouth in concentration, and after a few moments was frowning. "It's not working. It should be working." He opened his eyes, studying Kerr'kipik as if it had personally offended him. Kipik cocked its head in response. "Why isn't it working?" The Doctor let both of them go and leaned back, combing his fingers back through his hair in frenzied thought. "Some sort of genetic reprogramming. Think, think, think!"

Sariel shook her head, catching the attention of Gelry and Nash. The Bosthinats peered dubiously at each other.

"Oh!" the Doctor exclaimed as he shot to his feet. Everyone in the room started, including the korwi. He spun towards Sariel, his open palm extended towards her. "Where's Rose's effigermus?"

There was a silent pause. "Wha'?" Rose squeaked.

Sariel, surprised to be suddenly addressed after being ignored for so long, frowned at him with round eyes. "What?"

"Is it on you?" the Doctor persisted, approaching and looking Sariel over as if he would see the object somewhere.

"Why would I have it on me?" she retorted incredulously. "Where would I even put it?"

"In your ship, then? Gelry?" He spun again.

Gelry quite obviously avoided looking at Sariel, his attitude helpful and his focus on the Doctor. "I'm sure I can find it."

"And that oil stuff, what did you call it?" The Doctor continued on, brushing two fingers and a thumb together in thought. "Lerova oil, wasn't it? I need that, too."

"Doctor..." At Rose's tone he spun a third time, and the expression on her face made him slow down and give her his attention. "What's going on?"

The Doctor led her by the arm into the kitchen area, away from everyone else, and spoke in a hushed tone. "There's something we can try." He winced. "But I don't think you're gonna like it."

Rose stared at the Doctor for a moment before squinting one eye at him. "If it's anything like the last time you said that to me, I think I might just." A slow grin of pride and affection swept over the Doctor's face until he was beaming at her, verification Rose had guessed correctly. Her heartbeat quickened. Rose welcomed the idea in a way, but the fact that six and a half other people were standing around them and they were talking about what up until this point had been a method of torturing her made her, in her mind, justifiably squeamish. "Why sex though, Doctor? How could it possibly help in this situation?"

The Doctor raised his voice to normal levels, gesturing to the room as a whole. "The Muramphian-made effigermus doesn't just transmit impulses to its host, it records its responses. Well, _recorded_, in this case. Past tense. While it keeps transmitting every time it's used, it always responds in the same way it did the first time." He politely kept his enthusiasm in check with a tight smile. "The organic nature of the effigermus should be compatible with a psychic link. We're going to give it to the korwi, and without any sort of neural energy of its own, the object won't pose a threat and _should _circumvent the korwi's mental barriers."

Rose couldn't help but wonder if the Doctor was jumping on just one idea and not thinking things through. "Can't it be anything with strong emotion?"

He directed his lowered gaze at her. "Can you think of anything stronger?" He watched as Rose proceeded to rack her brain for another solution for a moment before regarding Sariel over his shoulder. "What was it you said to me back in your shoppe, Sariel?_ I know nothing_, and you refused to say _why _you had to torture people to 'feed' the korwi." Sariel fixed him with a knowing expression. "I think now's a _great _time to explain yourself.

Sariel had the floor and she knew it, taking her time to wet her lips as she collected her thoughts. "The Merchants have perfected their system with years of careful study. I'm fully trained in their methods of serum extraction—a specialist in korwi physiology, really. We know the most efficient ways to get the korwi to produce the special pheromone, the one compatible and necessary to Bosthinatian physiology, the one their species lacks."

"Compatible, you say? Do you think there's a _reason _it's compatible, a reason only the korwi have it?"

Sariel shrugged in her bonds. "At one point in their history, the Bosthinats and korwi evolved together. It's not so anymore."

The Doctor ignored her misconception. "You force each korwi to produce more than they're supposed to. You're not just torturing those that feed them. Korwi are people, too."

Sariel narrowed her eyes. "How do you know how much a korwi's _supposed _to produce, Doctor?"

The Doctor spread his arms wide. "Unless I'm mistaken, each korwi should be dedicated to _one _Bosthinat!"

"We feed them just enough to produce, to entice them, but not too much to sate them so they stop. It's a careful balance, Doctor, one that nature never got right."

The Doctor sighed in exasperation and shook his head. One of the Bosthinats, Kerr'jakidu, held up a segmented finger. "We must hurry, Doctor. The Muramphian is coming! We do not have time for debates and attempts to change what hasn't been done in centuries!"

The Doctor looked from Kerr'jakidu to Sariel and back, finally turning to Rose. His uncertain expression lightened subtly, and Rose caught the glint of something mischievous and brilliant in his eye. "Hold on a tick." He disappeared into the back, leaving the rest of them to grumble amongst themselves for half a minute. The Doctor reemerged with a determined stride, hastily tugging his billowing long brown coat over his blue button-down shirt.

"Perhaps a bit of a demonstration is in order?" The Doctor went for the korwi still clinging to the back of the crouching Kerr'kipik and plucked her up, settling her into his coat's collar. He turned to Rose, his eyes flashing daringly. "There we go," the Doctor said as he finished adjusting the korwi on his shoulders, gently drawing her tentacles forward and attaching the ends to his temples. "Center stage," he murmured to himself.

With two quick strides forward of his long legs, the Doctor threaded his hands behind Rose's head, drew her up to him and snogged her soundly.

Rose gasped in surprise through her nose. Gelry and Nash looked at each other, the Bosthinats cocked their heads, and the korwi, not expecting the Doctor to suddenly lunge forward, scrambled to keep tension off her link to him. She hooked a secondary leg over his collar, pulling herself closer and recklessly finding skin with a primary leg.

Rose submitted to the delicious feel of the Doctor as he swept the clean flat of his tongue across the surfaces of her mouth and eventually began to respond in kind. The Doctor made a small noise of pleasure in the back of his throat as they kissed each other deeply in a synchronised rhythm that suggested an intimate familiarity and was bordering on inappropriate.

"Doctor, do you mind?" Sariel snapped.

The Doctor pulled away, staring intensely into Rose's eyes. He licked his lips almost comically like a cat having just enjoyed a tin of tuna and then suddenly grinned and chuckled seemingly unprompted, leaving Rose to wonder what the korwi had said to him.

He pulled a tentacle away and swiped at his temple, examined his fingertips and then presented the greasy chemical to Kerr'jakidu. "Is this your perfume?"

The Bosthinat took a step forward and studied it carefully. It reared back in surprised recognition. "It's certainly part of it, yes."

"There you go, Sariel," the Doctor concluded. "Proof that humiliation is not the most powerful emotion." He grinned cheekily. "Love is!"

Sariel rolled her eyes. "You don't get it. Enough of that and even your wild korwi will stop secretion."

"That was a bit of a show, got the korwi going quickly," the Doctor assured her and looked to the Bosthinats. "Loved people are happy people. Live happy and your korwi will be happy. A little bit at a time, over time. That's how it's meant to be."

Kerr'jakidu regarded him seriously for a moment then nodded decisively. "I believe it is as you say, Doctor." At its words, Kerr'delki and Kerr'kipik echoed their affirmation. "We will follow your plan."

"There we are, then!" the Doctor announced brightly and looked over to Sariel. "Permission to proceed, specialist of the korwi?" he asked, not really asking.

"Nash, come help me find that thing," Gelry said, smacking his brother and moving quickly towards the door.

The Doctor pointed in warning at Gelry. "No mucking about. Not a drop of that oil had better so much as _touch _the flower, or you'll regret having ever met me."

Everyone but Sariel began moving and Rose tugged at his lapels, bringing his attention back to her. "I've got one condition, Doctor," she said quietly to him.

His eyes grew tender. "Anything."

"Next time, it won't be anywhere like a dank dark planet in a little back bedroom."

The Doctor appeared ready to pounce right then and there. "Oh, I can _guarantee _there will be a next time, and it won't be here."


	16. A RoseShaped Solution

The first scene of this chapter has been edited a fair bit for the rating system. The full version can be found on Teaspoon.

* * *

><p>The Doctor closed the door gently behind him. Rose's mind was racing. In a few minutes, she was going to feel the effigermus again. A deeply-rooted fear associated with the expectation rose up within her. Rose stopped next to the bed and looked up at the Doctor. It was silly, really, as this time it was by choice.<p>

Well, sort of.

The Doctor met her eyes and stopped, finally plunging his hands into his coat pockets as he waited. Oh, this time would be nothing like before. This time, it would be _with_ him.

"Okay?" the Doctor asked gently.

Rose pressed her lips together and nodded quickly. "Yeah. We should... get ready, I suppose."

The Doctor nodded his agreement and pulled his hands out of his pockets. "Yep." He shrugged out of his coat, tossed it over the bureau, and started on his jacket buttons.

Rose sighed. She didn't like the way this was going so far. He seemed so... detached. Here he was, undressing as if it were some sort of duty to get over with. She supposed her words hadn't really set him up for anything else.

She shook herself. The old Rose Tyler, the _child_ would just go with it, would submit to fate and take life as it happened. If there was one thing the Doctor had taught her, however, it was how to seize control of what one could and change a situation for the better.

Moving forward, Rose batted his hands away and attacked the buttons herself. When the Doctor raised his head to look at her, she claimed his mouth and pushed against him.

The Doctor backed into the polished stone wall with a dull thud, and Rose freed his jacket from its last button and started working on the less friendly buttons of his Oxford. He then brought his arms around her and began tugging her top up her back.

Rose broke the kiss. "How long?"

When it was clear Rose wasn't going to allow him to remove her shirt until she was done with his, he started nimbly unfastening the lower buttons of his own to assist her. "I wasn't specific," he replied in a gravelly voice.

"Well we're gonna have to run the thing twice by the time we get all your layers off."

The Doctor offered a wry smile and peeled two of said layers back over his shoulders. "You love it."

"Mm, I do, but apparently we don't have a lot of time." Rose hooked her fingers under his form-fitting grey shirt and met his eyes again. "_Someone_ decided the best way to save a planet was to torture me again."

The Doctor's smile grew into a full grin before he ducked his head and helped pull off his last layer. "I don't see you complaining." He dropped the clothing onto a pile on top of his coat and reached for the hem of her top.

Rose raised her arms and allowed him to remove it. The Doctor's eyes immediately dropped to the bare flesh of their upper bodies. Rose didn't give him long, fixing his pectorals with a hungry look and ducking forward to kiss his chest. The Doctor dropped his head back against the wall and panted.

Rose began removing her jeans as thoughts of what she could do to him if his hands were tied up invaded her brain. Her lips twitched at her mischievous thoughts.

"What's that look for?" the Doctor asked as he shoved the last of his clothing down and stepped out from it.

The tip of her tongue came out to tease her upper lip as she slid out of her jeans. "Wouldn't you like to know."

"I think I would," the Doctor agreed in delight and made a show of flexing his fingertips in front of her face and bobbing his eyebrows. "I think I'll find out."

"_No!_" Rose shrieked playfully and backed towards the bed as he advanced on her. The Doctor caught her and quickly dropped her to the blanket they had so recently vacated. Suddenly, her head was spinning violently, and it was all Rose could do to latch onto the Doctor and feel the stability of the bed beneath her.

"Rose! You okay?"

Everything righted itself, and Rose fed slowly from a couple of deep breaths. She blinked at the Doctor's concerned face. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

"You went suddenly pale, looked like you saw a Gelth."

"I got dizzy is all. It's passed." She offered him a reassuring smile. "I just need more rest."

The Doctor's face softened and he finally nodded, but Rose was thinking back to the pain she had felt earlier in the outer room just before company had showed up. It was probably just mental exhaustion. She would be fine.

"Are you sure you're up for this?"

Rose snorted quietly. "Don't have a choice, do I?"

"Of course you do. We can find another way." He swallowed. "But we have to say something _now_ before—"

"I'll be fine. Promise." Rose ran her hands up over his shoulders and over his neck. "Besides, how can I say no to this with you?"

The Doctor grinned and planted a soft, tender kiss on her lips. He pulled back and his gaze began to flick over her features as he ran a hand up and down her arm.

"So, you and me. This..." Rose gestured to the bed, the house. Everything. Her brow furrowed. "We couldn't just do this normal? Go some place nice, rent a room, have dinner, bit of drink, talk late into the night... seduce each other. Not a care in the universe except check-out time."

The Doctor smirked in commiseration. "No."

"Had to involve saving an entire species, didn't it?"

He began gently nodding. "Yep." Rose nodded back, and the Doctor continued on. "We haven't really got to talk about last night."

"Yeah," Rose agreed. She thought back to the torrential dreams she had been having before being woken up, to the way she _felt_ him without even touching him when confronting Gelry. "We communicated. Telepathically, out there in front of everyone. Didn't we?"

The Doctor smiled softly, his eyes shining with love. "Yeah. We did."

Rose swallowed, his words of confirmation making it more real. "I felt your compassion for him."

"And you told me your strategy for taking control of the intrusion. Quite spunky, that korwi, isn't she?"

"How come I have to work hard to project sometimes and it just spontaneously comes to me other times?"

His humour faded. "You're adjusting, Rose. It's a lot for you to take in. Give it time."

"I was wonderin', though," she kept on. "You said I would know all of you, but I'm still all mixed up. It's all so confusing."

The Doctor smiled sympathetically. "Well, I said all doors would be opened. It doesn't mean you go through all of them at once." He chuckled. "Last night, you packed seeing all of Disney World into five minutes." Rose grinned and nodded, letting out a sigh and resigning herself to the fact that some things would take time and it should be something to look forward to. "It's the same with me," he went on, his expression changing from amusement to a sort of wonder. He nuzzled her nose gently. "I _know_ you, now. I've beheld a glimpse of your soul, yet there are still mysteries about your mind I have yet to unlock."

Curious as to what the Doctor meant by that, Rose opened her mouth to ask him when the distinctive, tentative first touch of the effigermus swept across her. Rose twitched involuntarily in surprise and gasped. The Doctor recognised it immediately.

"Erp, here we go."

Rose sought the Doctor's eyes, feeling that irrational fear again. He gazed down at her, his eyes widening in a daring eagerness that was infectious and promptly squelched her nervousness. Then he grinned, and she found herself mirroring it.

"It's still hard to believe I get to have this with you," the Doctor said.

"_You_ can't believe it!" Rose responded.

The Doctor wrapped his arms more tightly around her and lowered his head to whisper in her ear. "Do you like this, Rose? _Really _like it, I mean?"

Rose continued to shift under him from the delicious sensations. "'Course I do. There's no way I can feel it and _not _see you doing it with that clueless look on your face."

He pulled his nose back to her cheek until he was almost in focus. "That's good?"

Rose grinned softly. "It's kind of sexy, somehow. Curious and innocent on you is _really_ cute." Her grin widened. "Then again, so is the opposite."

The Doctor's ego, she thought, might just have inflated a bit. He gazed at her, intense and threatening. "I've got three hands."

Rose didn't have a snappy comeback for this, and instead she found herself staring into his dark chocolate eyes and whimpered.

He began flirting with her lips, bending her quickly to his will and reducing her to a puddle of pleasure. She arched against him as the effigermus got bolder and more active, loving the feel of his body against hers. Rose found herself unable to concentrate on kissing him back, but he kissed her anyway, playful and exploring. Suddenly, Rose connected the way he was kissing her with the way he had originally stimulated the effigermus, and she moaned with the shock of realisation.

On impulse, Rose raised her hand and brushed her fingertips across the Doctor's temple, and he gasped softly. There was something about the gesture, she mused. She settled the pads of her fingers into his skin and the Doctor visibly shuddered, his eyes rolling back into his head. Rose's heart leapt wildly at his response. She must have seen this in his mind, seen how erotic he found it to be.

The Doctor opened his eyes. Rose saw vulnerability and wonder in his gaze, but also an untempered joy as if he had discovered something he thought he had lost and never expected to find ever again.

Despite her desire to give him this moment, Rose began to breathe in shallow pants as the effigermus continued heedlessly on. The Doctor took notice and tucked his forearms under her shoulders and framed her face with his hands. Rose lay her forearms over his shoulders and did the same with her hands. His eyes were intense, burning into her. A beat later, their bond snapped to life, their minds merging and clinging to each other, bound as if by a tight rubber band. Both gasped in and held their breaths.

Rose felt pain, could feel it deep inside her mind. The Doctor couldn't sense it, she could tell, and it was by this realisation that she acknowledged a place within he was not yet able to reach. He was right in that not all was yet known between them, but he was also wrong.

This door had _not_ been opened.

Rose was thrilled at the sense of power she held over her the Doctor, the most powerful being she knew, but it also terrified her. He couldn't guide her in this, couldn't show her the way. He would only worry if he knew, and she didn't want to frighten him. The pain would pass, surely. It was merely the weakness of a human mind, struggling to cope with the might of a Time Lord's. She was strong enough.

They were in a field of deep red grass with a burnt orange sky from horizon to horizon. Rose could feel the cool blades tickling her skin, a feeling no doubt powered by a memory of the Doctor's. Or perhaps her mind was filling in what she thought it _should_ feel like. The pain was buried and easy to ignore under the currents of love that flowed from her lover and the way they fed from each other's pleasure.

The Doctor was in her mind, there with her and feeling the effigermus through her. "Ooh, how talented am I?" he marvelled.

Rose, amused but ready to move on, turned her thoughts to where she craved for him to be. "I love you so much, my Doctor," Rose whispered into his ear.

"My Rose," he growled in response. "Oh, I love you."

-^^-W-^^-

Gelry's job was to make sure the korwi didn't let go of the Bosthinat. Nash's job was to make sure the korwi didn't let go of Sariel's flower thing. No, he supposed it _really_ belonged to that girl, Rose. A rose for Rose. How ironic.

She really was a nice girl.

When he first saw her making her way to the loo in the back of Sariel's shoppe after receiving the usual signal to restrain her when she did, he had immediately decided this one would be one of the more fun ones. It was a welcome distraction when they were pretty, a distraction that kept his mind off the more thought-provoking, distasteful aspects of his job. He had wanted to watch the camera with Sariel, but of course he and Nash were made to stand outside the door to the back room instead. The damn thing was soundproof, so he couldn't even benefit from being nearby.

Gelry had been bitter about leaving Chosthu. It meant leaving for days at least, which meant he couldn't visit Gina. Nash looked up to him. They had been working so hard to pay her medical bills, and it seemed everytime they almost had it together, the universe would blow their plans up right in his face and then laugh at them.

No one cared, and he hated all of them in return. Life was one long hard grind, and then it rewarded your efforts by killing off the people you loved anyway.

When he had finally gotten more than two seconds with the blonde, watching over the pair of them aboard ship, all Gelry had wanted to do was shag her. She was gorgeous and had a spark of life about her. The idea was entertaining, and he knew he was a horrible person, so what did it matter if they looked at him in disgust? He did what he had to do because no one else besides his younger brother cared enough to help him.

This man, though—the Time Lord, whatever that was—this "Doctor" bloke. He cared, promised to help Gina, and he didn't even _know_ him. The Doctor had taken the upper hand, and despite how Sariel and they had treated him and his girl, he didn't kill them or lock them up (okay, he locked up Sariel, but who wouldn't) or throw them to the Bosthinats to be ripped apart. It was as if those thoughts didn't even occur to him.

The Doctor not only cared, he _believed_ in him. He believed Gelry was better than what he had made himself appear to be. Gelry wasn't sure himself that he was more than worthless, but the Doctor thought so, and that was enough for him for now. Gelry found himself striving to meet the Doctor's expectations, thinking just maybe he could trust this man to help their sister and keep his word.

Gelry looked up at the other two Bosthinats. He was pretty sure their jobs were to watch him and Nash and make sure they didn't do anything stupid.

"How long are we supposed to sit here and watch?" Gelry asked.

"He said we'll know when it happens," Nash replied.

Gelry sighed. The korwi just sat there, holding the effigermus between its front legs, one of its tentacles wrapped around it while the other clung to the Bosthinat like it was supposed to and doing nothing else.

"What do you suppose it's feeling?" Nash asked, also doing his job and studying the creature.

"I can guess," Gelry responded wryly. As if on cue, there was sound from the back room. He smirked and jerked his head towards the hallway. "I'd much rather be in there."

"Gelry!" Nash reprimanded in a long-suffering hiss.

"What? Rose is hot."

The korwi twitched suddenly. The Bosthinat screeched sharply and rocked forward onto its hands. Gelry and Nash jerked backward in surprise, but both unspokenly stayed close by in case the korwi did something it wasn't supposed to and they had to act. Was this what they were waiting for? Did they still have to make sure the korwi kept holding on?

The other two Bosthinats rushed forward but stopped just short of touching their sibling. Kerr'kipik shuddered twice and again screeched as if in distress. Nash looked at Gelry, and in turn he looked back.

It was then the Bosthinat shot to its feet, pitching suddenly to one side and colliding violently with Gelry. He hit the floor, seeing stars. There was a rush of movement about him, heavy chitinous feet pounding against the floor on either side of him as the other two moved past. Kerr'kipik swayed dangerously and crashed into the corner between the hallway and the kitchen with enough force to rattle the dishes noisily.

"Kipik!" one of the Bosthinats chirped.

Gelry blinked and tried to keep track of the Bosthinat, struggled to focus on the little korwi's tentacles. "Nash!" he bellowed.

"I've got it!" Nash assured his brother. "It's still holding on."

Kerr'kipik finally slid down the wall, one leg supporting below and the other stretched out. It raised its head high as if looking at the ceiling, then slowly drew it level again and seemed to look at its two siblings in turn.

"Kipik," one of them chirped softly.

"My korwi," it said. The other two cocked their heads. "She speaks!" Kipik exclaimed.

Gelry had turned over and lifted himself on his hands, his vision clearing. The little creature was manoeuvring itself on the Bosthinat, settling down between two ridges running down between its shoulders. It seemed to fit perfectly and naturally there.

One of the other two Bosthinats (Gelry really had no clue what their names were, nor did her care to learn them) hesitantly stretched its fingers out to stroke the korwi's back. It flinched sharply a moment. Kipik chirped softly to it, and it calmed and allowed itself to be pet, even if it was shivering a little bit. Gelry had no doubt it was scared to death. His brother stood over the scene, watching carefully.

As soon as Gelry got to his feet, a light through the window caught his peripheral vision. He leaned closer to the window and could make out the softly-illuminated rooftops in the predawn sky, the rest of the buildings lost in a thick fog. A point of yellow light grew steadily amidst the fog, backlighting several segmented, insect-like shapes that swayed side to side. Gelry wondered if Bosthinats started their days early and were setting off to work. One of the shapes was not like the others, however, appearing lithe, smooth and steady.

"Oh shit!" Gelry hissed. "That cheetah lady's here!" He looked towards the confused faces staring at him. "The _Muramphian_! She's here!"

The door to the back room opened and the Doctor emerged, fully garbed in his suit, coat and trainers. He was grinning down at Kipik right in front of him. Rose appeared behind him, also fully dressed. The Doctor pressed a hand to the Bosthinat's head, and his grin grew, enthusiastic. "Look at you!"

Nash interrupted him. "Ambassador Lura's here, Doctor!"

His grin disappeared, but he didn't exactly look troubled. "Ooh, really? Perfect timing!

Kerr'kipik kicked at the floor, trying to rise. "I can't let her hurt my korwi!"

"We must hide!" one of the other Bosthinats croaked.

"No we mustn't. Everyone out! Outside!" The Doctor made a shooing motion. "We can't have her coming in." Rose came up beside him and took his hand, and the Doctor turned to her and they grinned at each other.

Gelry moved away from the window. "Are you crazy? She's brought her guard, Doctor, and she's not happy."

"This little house isn't going to protect us, Gelry." The Doctor took a step towards the man. "Make no mistake, it will be dangerous, but no more than in here. I suppose it's possible she'll ignore the house if Rose and I go out there—it's me she wants—but I can't guarantee it. It's your choice."

There really was no choice as far as Gelry was concerned. No, he never signed up for this kind of work, and while Sariel's work hadn't exactly been legal, it had been under the radar. Nothing like this. So far, he had worked hard and thrown money at the hospital, only to see a decline in Gina's health overall. Perhaps it was time he needed to do something exemplary with himself to heal her.

The Doctor was either a madman or... something altogether brilliant.

"I'm with you, Doctor," Gelry said. Nash moved to his side and nodded his acceptance, too.

The look of approval on the Doctor's face did something in Gelry he didn't expect, a feeling deep within he wasn't familiar with, but he knew instinctively it was very, very good, and he had made the right decision despite how much it scared him. The Doctor turned to the others. "That goes for the rest of you. You don't have to come with me. You can stay in here. Maybe you'll be left alone, maybe not. Rose and I are going out there." He pointed to Kerr'kipik. "Kipik and its korwi have a real chance of changing the way of life across all of Bosthinatia. If Lura leaves you alone, you have a chance for this, but if she decides not to, out with me is your best chance. It's up to you."

Kerr'kipik had made it to its feet, and the other two Bosthinats stepped forward with it. "We're doing this now, Doctor. You healed me and korwi. We protect you, and hope for our future."

The Doctor grinned widely and immediately moved towards the door, taking the lead. "Now, come, get out of here! We need to be seen!"

And with that, the Doctor swung open the door and stepped outside, Rose following close behind him.

-^^-W-^^-

Morning mist clung to everything, filling the alleyways completely. It was impossible to see past the next house in either direction. The Bosthinats formed up four abreast on either side of Lura, the rest behind the front line, finally clattering to a stop and dropping the residential square into its normal predawn silence. The Doctor and Rose stopped a respectable distance in front of the house and apart from their adversaries, side by side. He threaded his fingers with Rose's and squeezed her hand, taking comfort in the contact. Kerr'jakidu and Kerr'delki came forward to either side of them while Kerr'kipik and its korwi, Gelry and Nash had their backs.

The Doctor's body still pulsed, having made love to Rose just minutes before. It had been terribly difficult to pull out of her mind, wanting nothing more than to remain in the blissful state of their afterglow, but Kipik's cry had jounced them back to the more driving reason they had come together in the first place.

Despite the fact that he was still recovering, the Doctor kept his face passive. "Ambassador Lura."

Lura narrowed her eyes. "Time Lord."

It wasn't apparent to the Doctor whether the Muramphian was about to smile, pleased that she had finally apprehended him, or if she was furious and attempting to hide the fact. Her eyes were alive with something—excitement, perhaps anticipation. Maybe she thought if she blinked she would lose him again.

"I believe we had a deal. You're supposed to be assisting me in bringing back the Carrionites."

The Doctor raised his chin. "And you agreed to bring me my TARDIS."

Lura finally blinked, offering him a small smile. "So I did."

He nodded. "Right. And..." he made a show of swaying to the side, looking behind her at her Bosthinat escort. "Probably too much to ask, but I don't suppose you've brought it with you?"

"If you hadn't run off, surely we wouldn't have a problem."

"Yes, well," the Doctor stalled. So the TARDIS was at her place. "There was the issue of you threatening Rose."

"And we had an agreement that would suggest she wouldn't be harmed as long as you cooperated."

"And I came across an opportunity to escape. With your hospitality being what it was, I decided it better not to risk staying."

Lura shifted her eyes from the Doctor, as if just noticing the two men behind him. "Those are Sariel's guards. Where is she?"

"Tucked away in her ship for now, until I can deal with her later," the Doctor deadpanned.

The Muramphian addressed the two men, sounding mildly surprised. "And you've joined the Doctor?"

"We have," Gelry said.

She nodded slowly and sighed gracefully. "There we are, then." She then raised a finger to her company, her voice dropping into a hard menace. "Bring me the Doctor unharmed. Kill the rest!"


	17. Confrontation

The small army of Bosthiants surged forward towards the Doctor and his friends.

The Doctor's hands shot out placatingly. "No, no, no, no! You don't want to do that!" His eyes moved from the Bosthinats to Lura, unsure of which front he was more likely to convince. Ambassador Lura's eyes were hard and unforgiving, so he turned his attention to her swarm of guards and raised his voice and shouted clearly. "Do you really want to kill the first Bosthinatian korwi coupling of your lifetimes?"

The Bosthinats stopped dead, and the Doctor reveled in the internal rush of victory. Every facet of every insectoid eye of every cocked head was fastened on him.

The Doctor moved to one side, in front of Kerr'jakidu, and motioned Kerr'kipik forward. The Bosthinat timidly stepped into view and turned its shoulder towards the onlooking crowd, showing everyone the korwi nestled behind its head.

Clicking and buzzes of surprise broke out across the assembled guard. Some began excitedly chattering to one another. The Doctor looked to Ambassador Lura. Her face was a picture of complete and open shock. Her eyes broke from the impossible sight to meet his.

Her voice was a mixture of her expression and perhaps accusation. "What did you _do_?"

"What I do best, Lura." He raised his arms expansively. "Talk!" he announced as if he had invented the concept. "Or rather, helped them to talk. I've got quite the gob, me. Gets me into trouble all the time. And out of it." He murmured just loud enough for probably only Rose to hear, "Like just now."

"I don't believe you," Lura said. Her smile returned, if just a shadow of it, thinking the Doctor was playing her and she had rumbled him. "I'm very familiar with the art of deception. This is some sort of Time Lord trick."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows at her and turned to look at Kerr'kipik. He casually raised a hand and plucked one of the korwi's tentacles from the Bosthinat's head. Kipik made a small noise of disapproval. The korwi pulled her property out of the Doctor's gentle grip and fastened herself back to her host. There was a rustling of conversation from the Ambassador's guard, and the Doctor turned his eyes back to Lura, as if it clarified everything.

The Muramphian narrowed her eyes. Her voice became a harsh hissing sound, quite unbecoming of her usual physical grace. "Coercion, then! You've done something to the korwi's mind!"

The Doctor sighed. Kerr'kipik trembled a little and took another step forward, now in front of its friends. "My siblings and I have sought this for a long time. We have been open to possibilities Bosthinatia has not been open to for so many generations, and the Doctor has made it happen. If you believe, everyone can have what I now have with my korwi. We do not need to make korwi suffer under Muramphian hands any longer for our benefit. You have no future with Muramphe's ambassador. Follow us, follow the Doctor, and we will reform Bosthinatia to what it should be!"

The crowd of natives appeared restless and undecided as they clicked at one another. The Doctor could see they weren't sure how to behave.

"Fools," Lura addressed her company. "This is an alien trick. You know coupling with korwi is not possible. I give Bosthinatia what it needs. Do _not_ try my patience, or each and every one of you will lose your positions in my house!"

There was silence as no one moved. The Doctor breathed deeply, his mind searching for what best to say next to them, to win them over. Before he could speak, however, one of the Ambassador's Guard spoke up, chittering a challenge to Lura.

"What if they tell the truth? It is worth learning more! I could not live on knowing I had hurt a truly receptive korwi!"

Several shouts of agreement rang up.

Lura was seething. "I will _not_ tolerate any more outbursts. Apprehend them now, or you will be arrested by your peers!" To the Doctor's surprise, the Bosthinat that had spoken up stepped forward and moved purposefully towards Kerr'kipik, effectively silencing and rooting the others on their feet as they looked on. "Get back here!" Lura yelled after the deviant.

"You will be quiet, Muramphian!" another emboldened Bosthinat called out. "This does not concern you!"

The other Bosthinats apparently held this one in high regard. This could be promising, the Doctor thought. He fastened a warning look on Lura. "If you wish to show any care for these people other than your own greed," he piped up, "you'll allow them this!"

Jakidu and Delki took on an aggressive stance, but the visitor held up its hands. "If you are truthful, tell your korwi to touch me." It held out its hand.

The Doctor swallowed as he thought quickly. Jakidu and Delki weren't moving out of the way, being as protective as they were of their sibling and its new korwi. This Bosthinat could easily harm the korwi by getting close enough, but the Doctor didn't see it as likely. The entire Ambassador's Guard needed proof, and this was too valuable an opportunity to pass up. What other choice did they have?

He was about to tell Jakidu and Delki to move, but apparently they came to the same conclusion as they looked at each other and moved apart. The Bosthinat closed on Kipik, its hand still outstretched until it reached Kipik's shoulder.

Oh, you brave, brave creature, the Doctor thought with a little grin as he pondered the insectoid who had for all purposes raised a white flag, delved into enemy territory and done what no one else would. He felt Rose take his hand again and looked to her excited gaze, then diverted his eyes along with everyone else, waiting in rapt attention on the small, muddy-brown creature perched behind Kipik's head for several heavy moments.

Now it was the korwi's turn to be brave.

To the Doctor's delight, the korwi pulled one of its tentacles off Kipik's head and waved it out searchingly. It connected with the Bosthinats hand and skittishly jerked away before gingerly settling itself onto the stranger.

Excited clicks and chirps spread across the Ambassador's Guard. The brave Bosthinat stepped closer and faced Kipik squarely. An unspoken understanding seemed to pass between them as Kipik nodded silently. The stranger had to move its head very close to Kipik in order to raise the korwi's little feeler to its own head, just in the right spot. The Doctor held his breath. This was the moment that everything hinged on whether or not the korwi would ignore centuries of genetic programming and embrace not just Kipik, but the Bosthinatian race as a whole and represent the entire korwi species.

Silence fell again. The Doctor sensed the familiar twang of a pivotal moment in the air, the taste of history being made sharp on his tongue. Rose's hand twitched in his and gripped tighter. The roaring of the crowd flashed in an instant through his mind, and the Doctor immediately looked to see every Bosthinat still staring in silence, still waiting. What was that? Had that come from Rose?

The Bosthinat screeched suddenly and reared, pulling away to stand halfway between the two opposing companies.

"The korwi _speaks_!" it exclaimed.

The crowd's reaction was instantaneous, the Doctor's ears receiving and confirming the same deafening sound he had just thought he had heard in a frightening form of deja vu. His eyes caught on Lura, who appeared surprised and very much unsure of what to do.

The Doctor beamed at the raucous, happy sound of the insectoid revolution beginning, and they were there to witness it at its very heart. He turned to Rose, who met his eyes and beamed right back at him. They had done it!

The tone of the natives suddenly changed, and the Doctor looked up. They were all turning away from Kerr'kipik, off towards the Doctor's right and into the mist. Several insectoid shapes appeared, and it took a moment for him to realise that these were _not_ of the Ambassador's Guard.

"Ambassador Lura!" a cracking voice called out, just barely audible over the commotion which slowly subsided to a rustling of feet against stone. The Doctor located the Bosthinat at the front lines of the new force as they came to a stop just within sight through the mist. "What am I witness to? Why have you not yet captured the threat?"

Lura narrowed her eyes and cocked her head. "Merchant Berr'ka? Is that you? What are you doing here?"

"You claimed the Time Lord alien to be a threat. I used my resources with the Bosthinatian Army. Our economy is fragile and must be preserved!"

The Muramphian sneered at Berr'ka. "Greedy, insolent roach! Your only concern is the preservation of your own trade!"

Berr'ka bristled. "You speak of yourself, Muramphian!"

"You are too late," the korwi's new friend, the brave Bosthinat that had stepped forward, yelled at the merchant. "This korwi speaks to Bosthinats! The alien will help more to speak! We follow the Doctor!"

The merchant's company began to murmur in surprise. Berr'ka seemed horrified. "Alien witchcraft! Ever since we allowed soft bodies onto our world, they have infected us with their curses!" Berr'ka screeched and flung its arms forward. "They must be stopped! Kill the aliens!

"No!" the Doctor shouted, but it was no good as his voice was lost to the clacking, abrasive sounds of the Bosthinats. These people had not seen what Lura's rank had seen.

As the Merchant's Guard rushed forward, the Ambassador's Guard lifted their fists and voices and moved to intercept them. Kerr'jakidu and Kerr'delki came forward, standing between the crowd and Kerr'kipik and the Doctor. Merchant Berr'ka could just be seen through the stampeding throng looking towards the opposing force, its expression one of shock. It hadn't expected resistance from the others. Out of the corner of his eye to the left, the Doctor caught the cat-like form of a Muramphian slipping away into the fog.

The two forces collided, the thwacking of their hard bodies filling the air to join their angry cries.

Oh, this was very much _not_ good. The Doctor grit his teeth, feeling helpless as his shouts to cease the fighting were lost in the clamour. He didn't stand a chance against the armoured Bosthinats, not even one on one, so he could only stand and watch, his arm braced protectively in front of Rose. Gelry and Nash no doubt had the same thoughts as they stood to either side of him and Rose.

Two of Berr'ka's Bosthinats broke through and jaunted menacingly towards the Doctor, and Jakidu and Delki rushed forward to engage them. Kipik's dismayed cry could only be heard due to being so near.

The Doctor's head snapped back as something slapped over his mouth. A shock of fiery golden hair whipped past his vision, and he was pulled back violently against the tall pliant form of Lura. The familiar sting of ether assaulted his nostrils, and the Doctor quickly suppressed the instinct to pull in a deep breath, triggering the second instinct that bypassed his respiratory system. He had inhaled enough to detect it, enough to make him instantly woozy, but the Doctor held onto consciousness as he wrestled with his captor.

"You're coming with me, Doctor!" Lura hissed into his ear.

He could hear Rose's cry, felt the Muramphian's grip on him falter as she and Nash attempted to pull her off of him. Lura was tall, her limbs long, and with a well-aimed blow to the face she sent Nash sprawling to the ground. By the choked sound just behind his ear, he guessed Rose had managed to get her arm around Lura's neck. Suddenly the Doctor was free, and he turned to see Rose chasing the Muramphian off towards the alley between houses, stopping just at the edge of the mist. He snorted and wiped his mouth on his sleeve, attempting to dissipate any remnants of the compromising vapours, then began to pull in great cleansing breaths of the morning air. Despite his struggle just to breathe, a part of him had to appreciate the lithe, protective stance of his mate, the fire in her eyes as she looked to him. He beamed excitedly back at her, looking forward to showing her later just what her heroic moves were doing to him.

A human yell drew their attention immediately back towards the square. Gelry collided painfully with a Bosthinat, knocking it to the side and away from the Doctor. The Bosthinat lashed out and pulled the man with it, regaining its feet and turning on Gelry.

"Protect the Doctor!" someone yelled from the crowd. "Protect the korwi!"

Gelry was held fast in the Bosthinat's fist, but he managed to turn towards it and began to pummel any part of it he could reach. Nash saw what was happening and got to his feet to help his brother.

The Doctor was about to as well, but it was too late. The Bosthinat wielded something flat and sharp and buried its fist into the man's midsection, lifting Gelry up and off his feet.

_"No!"_ the Doctor and Nash screamed at once, their voices lost in the cacophony of other cries.

Just as Gelry landed on his feet, another Bosthinat crashed into his attacker and grappled it away. Nash rushed forward, just catching Gelry under the arms as he pitched backwards. The Doctor moved to assist, lifting Gelry's legs and helping Nash to pull the heavier brother back towards the house and away from the violence of the fighting. Rose stood next to Kipik watching in horror, her hands over her mouth in shock.

Several of the Ambassador's Guard formed up a protective ring around them, now, and the Doctor allowed his attention to turn inward towards the man they lowered gently to the ground at Kerr'kipik's feet.

"Gelry," Nash sobbed miserably. "Gelry!"

The Doctor lifted Gelry's hand from the wound, unable to see its exact location due to the amount of blood. He pressed his own hand into the wound, his spirits plummeting when he found it. It was bad. There was nothing he could do, and Gelry would not live long.

"I'm so sorry, Gelry," the Doctor said, then repeated himself more loudly so that he could be heard.

With the last of his strength, Gelry managed to grip the Doctor's forearm and focus on his eyes. "Gina," he said. The Doctor couldn't hear him, but he recognised the formation of the name. He clasped the dying man's arm in return and gave Gelry a tight-lipped nod of assurance.

Gelry's eyes rolled, and then he went limp.

Nash cried out to his dead brother. The Doctor gave the mourning man's shoulder a firm squeeze and stood, giving him a moment. He couldn't very well console him with the level of noise. He met Rose's sorrowful eyes, and the Doctor couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilty relief that it hadn't been Rose that had been killed.

The pitch of the battle changed, and the Doctor turned to look between the shoulders of their insectoid protectors. It sounded a lot like the cheering sounds of the Ambassador's Guard when they had witnessed the korwi speaking, but he couldn't tell from which side it was coming from. Was one side winning? No one seemed to be fleeing. The Bosthinats nearest them joined in the cheering, a sort of shrill series of whistles.

The Doctor tapped on the shoulder of the nearest one and shouted, "What's going on?"

It turned to the Doctor and shouted back, "Reinforcements! Not guards. Rogues! Civilians helping us!"

Bosthinats began to disappear into the mist. Some were now fleeing, likely members of the Merchant's Guard. The Doctor couldn't see anyone he recognised.

A Bosthinat approached them. Their cheering guards quieted and challenged the visitor. It looked from one guard's face to the other uncertainly, then spotted the Doctor behind them. It began to dance from side to side, its voice more easily heard now that most of the noise was moving off. "Kipik! Doctor and Rose Tyler!" it whooped.

Rose budged up in front of the Doctor, attempting to see through. The Doctor started to grin and tapped their guards' shoulders, gesturing for them to shift so they could get a clearer view. Once they had, the Doctor squinted at the Bosthinat.

"Kikitch?"

Fla'ri'kikitch bounced in excitement. "Familiar name!"

"You brought an army with you!"

"I followed the Ambassador. Stowaway. I know many friends of korwi in Gur'kurk."

Kerr'kipik pushed its way through the others and chittered a joyous greeting to Fla'ri'kikitch. "I found the Doctor in the night. The Doctor brought me my korwi!" It turned its shoulder, showing off said acquisition.

Fla'ri'kikitch squealed and chittered in delight as two Bosthinats approached. Kipik greeted them warmly, and Kikitch turned to do the same. Jakidu and Delki had returned.

The Doctor surveyed the square. The mist had cleared a bit, likely due more to the frenzied activity of the battle than the rising sun. The sky above was just beginning to brighten. Bosthinats filtered in from all directions, at first moving quickly and then slowing, then stopping at a respectful distance to wait.

He mused this battle had just been waiting to happen, and he and Rose had merely been the catalyst. It seems Berr'ka and Fla'ri'kikitch had both followed the Ambassador here and converged their forces all at once, their interests all relative to the korwi in one way or another. Now, the consequences of the event would spread across the planet. He twisted to look at Nash, who cradled his brother's body in front of the little house. Gelry's death had not been for nothing.

"We must get you and Kipik to the capital," Kikitch said. "The rulers must know. They will protect you."

Fla'ri'kikitch, the Kerrs, and Rose watched the Doctor, awaiting his response. He looked back at each of their faces while he formed a plan. "All right, but first I need my ship. I think it's in the Ambassador's building. Once I get close enough, I'll be able to find its exact location." He turned to the other few Bosthinats, the strangers that had protected them. "The Ambasasdor's Guard is with us?"

One of them clicked in agreement. "We believe. We are with you."

The Doctor nodded. "Good. All of you return to the Ambassador's building. If you see Ambassador Lura, apprehend her immediately and put her in one of the cells until your rulers can deal with her how they see fit. If you happen to see a tall, blue, wooden box, put it in the Ambassador's chamber for me."

"Come with us!" one of them replied. "Merchant Berr'ka will also contact the rulers. We must protect you."

The Doctor shook his head and looked back over his shoulder at the human who now seemed so small and alone on a planet not his own. "He has a ship. Rose and I will go to the capital with him. He needs us right now."

The member of the Guard nodded. "Let us escort you. It will be our honour."


	18. New Beginnings

I give you the finale. A very special thanks to all my reviewers! I hope all other readers enjoyed the tale, and if anyone wishes to comment on the story as a whole, I welcome your thoughts.

Their story continues on in the form of a sequel with a completely different adventure, but I will not have time to devote to writing it for a while, so don't hold your breath unless you're part Gallifreyan. One-shots here and there are planned in the meantime. ^_~

* * *

><p>-^^-W-^^-<p>

Several watchful members of the Ambassador's Guard accompanied the Doctor and Rose back to Sariel's ship, one of them carrying Gelry's body. Upon arriving, they told the Doctor to wait for their vessel so the Guard could at least escort them back to the capital. The Doctor argued, eager for them to be on their way and claiming he could take care of those with him fine on his own. One of the Bosthinats insisted that if the Doctor arrive at the Ambassador's building first, he would have no one who had witnessed the unbelievable event with him to explain and get him through. He considered this logic and reluctantly agreed, but had given them one condition. The Doctor had disappeared into the ship, retrieved a bleary-eyed and bound Sariel and shoved her down the ramp into the waiting arms of the Guard, telling them to give her a fair trial. Sariel had given the Doctor one last murderous look. Nash watched her go dispassionately, turned and walked silently back into the ship.

There had been no sign of Ambassador Lura. It didn't surprise the Doctor that when the Ambassador's Guard had returned to her ship, they found it had gone missing. He strongly suspected she had already fled the planet. The Guard secured a government vessel from Gur'kurk and met up with the little red space hopper.

Arrangements had been made during the trip back to have Bosthinatia's royalty meet them at the Ambassador's building, to put aside anything Merchant Berr'ka may have told them and remain neutral until they could see proof for themselves. They were skeptical at first, but when they were told that Ambassador Lura had scarpered, their curiosity was piqued and they immediately agreed.

The TARDIS had been easy to find—Lura no doubt hadn't expected the Doctor to be able to wander freely within her home and hadn't hidden it. The Ambassador's Guard had simply contacted the individuals that had found and delivered it in the first place and asked where they had put it. The TARDIS was waiting in the Ambassador's chamber when the Doctor arrived.

"Ah, there she is! Safe and sound," the Doctor announced with smiling words. He went up to his ship and ran his hand affectionately over a blue painted wood edge.

Rose thought about how the familiar sight she had come to associate with home made her feel ridiculously happy, even though a Londoner from her time would see it as a simple curiosity from the past and nothing more. It no longer appeared out of place to her anywhere that it was. The chamber dwarfed the outside of the TARDIS, but she knew the inside would put this place to shame, and it was all hers.

She just wished she could get rid of her pounding headache. Maybe the TARDIS could help with that. As soon as this was over, she would tell the Doctor and they would sort her right again.

Now that they were reunited with the living ship, neither one of them wanted to let it out of their sight until they were safely off Bosthinatia. Rose wanted desperately to go inside and put the wild planet behind her, but she stood with the Doctor in front of it as the Kerrs and Kikitch arrived. Really, the planet couldn't be all that bad. She would miss their five friends.

Several others claiming to have great influence found them and began to ask the Doctor questions. The Bosthinatian royalty came, and the Doctor showed them Kerr'kipik and its korwi. They were reluctant to believe it could be done again, that the Doctor must stay and do it for more Bosthinats. Rose squirmed at what that would mean for her and was about to adamantly refuse, but the Doctor grinned in amusement at her discomfort and told them Kipik's korwi could help just fine.

He finally relented to show them and had one of the korwi tanks brought over. Fla'ri'kikitch scrambled over, practically begging to be second to Kerr'kipik. The Doctor smiled and agreed. He did promise Kikitch. He had both Kipik and Kikitch crouch next to the tank. The tanked korwi was linked to Kipik's korwi on one side and Kikitch on the other. The Doctor made sure not to touch any of them, and Rose could see it was difficult to suppress his curiosity as he hovered about, talking them through the experience. It wasn't long before the wild korwi was able to coax the imprisoned korwi to open up to the promise of a new life, one of love and joy and freedom and peaceful coexistence.

There was much celebration from the ruling family, and they immediately began to click and whistle animatedly with the other important persons about the future of Bosthinatia. The Kerrs and Kikitch were not only given immediate pardons for any perceived transgressions against the government, but also temporary advisory positions in restructuring society until their official statuses as heads of Korwi Integration, the department replacing Korwi Harvesting, could be established. The Ambassador's building would be reallocated to a korwi nursery and recovery center.

As a side note, a statement probably made in good fun but taken as serious, the word "korwi" was to be capitalised in the books from now on.

The Doctor insisted all imprisoned Korwi be freed, and it was agreed upon to be a priority. He asked if they knew how to safely wean them off their dependency to the silicon-hydrate solution, and he was assured it was a simple matter.

As the officials talked business, Fla'ri'kikitch bounced up to the Doctor and Rose. It had reluctantly left its Korwi's side, the creature still restricted to its tank, but Kikitch couldn't watch its friends go without saying goodbye.

"My Korwi is surprised I am nice to him. It feels supernatural and so right!"

The Doctor grinned and clapped Kikitch on the shoulder. "You get back to him, then. I'm sure you'll look after him and get him out of that tank as soon as you can." The Bosthinat bobbed quickly in enthusiastic agreement.

Rose smiled and tried to squeeze its arm, but she couldn't so she settled for patting it instead. "We'll miss you."

"Doctor and Rose Tyler stay?"

The Doctor frowned sympathetically and shook his head. "It's not our way. Besides, you'll get on fine by yourselves. We'd only get in the way." He pointed to the tanked korwi. "Now, off you go. See to your future." Fla'ri'kikitch did so, and the Kerrs approached them next. They were similarly invited to stay, and the Doctor brushed it off graciously as he had done with Kikitch.

"My Korwi wanted to know," Kerr'kipik began coyly. "Korwi don't use names, but Bosthinats will need names for them. She wanted to know... could she have yours, Rose?"

Rose's mouth opened in surprise. After a stunned moment, she looked to the Doctor, who was struggling to keep his enthusiasm in check.

The Doctor took her look to be a request for approval. "Naming the first civilised member of an oppressed species after you, that's quite the honour."

She managed a smile and stepped forward, reaching up to pet the Korwi. Giving her name to a prawn, she thought. Could be worse. Rose the Korwi detached one of her tentacles from Kipik and snaked it along Rose's wrist. "I'd be honoured for you to have my name." Rose spotted the effigermus still tucked securely between her front legs and plucked it up. "Won't be needing this anymore though, will you?"

Rose the Korwi assured Rose she had looked after it for her and was pleased to return it. Rose projected her thanks and wishes for a happy future before saying goodbye and stepping back, letting the Doctor say a quick farewell himself. When he had finished, he glanced down at the pink flower-shaped object Rose was holding and blithely snatched it from her hand. As if he owned it.

"The Doctor waved to their Bosthinat friends with his other hand, but before he could take a step, Rose had snatched the object back. The Doctor turned to stare at her in surprise.

"I believe this is mine, thanks," Rose informed him and walked on ahead, catching the amused raising of eyebrows before reaching the TARDIS door. Kipik chuckled in a softly-grinding laugh, and Kikitch peered between Kipik and Rose, failing to see the same level of humour as the others.

A Bosthinat official called for the Doctor, and he hurried his step towards the cracked TARDIS door. "Erp, that's my cue, best be off." With one last grin and wave towards four Bosthinats and a Korwi named Rose, the Doctor ducked inside his unimposing ship and closed the door on Bosthinatia.

-^^-W-^^-

It was such a relief to be in the safety of the TARDIS again. They still had one trip to make, however, and even though they had the advantage of procrastinating with a time machine if they really wanted to, neither felt inclined to do so.

The TARDIS materialised in the front garden of a modest residence on the planet Chosthu. The Doctor walked the short distance to the front door, Rose following him, and knocked. The door opened to a surprised but eager Nash.

"Come in, come in, please, Doctor! Where have you been?"

They entered, and at Nash's question, the Doctor whirled into a backwards walk, hands in pockets. Rose welcomed the resultant trailing of his coat along her pant leg. "What do you mean?"

"I told you how long my trip would be. You said you would arrive just after I did. That was this morning."

The Doctor pinched thoughtfully at his ear as he came to a stop. "And what time is it now?"

"Half past seven."

The Doctor nodded. "Right. Sorry." He offered no further explanation. Rose suppressed a long-suffering sigh at his landing accuracy.

Nash's face softened. "That's all right. It gave me time to make arrangements for... for Gelry."

"Speaking of arrangements," the Doctor continued on, his tone respectful but cheerful, "Bosthinatia wishes to hire you in the collection of all off-world Korwi. They're willing to pay well for their careful return. The space hopper has clearance already, and since you're still employed, if indirectly, under Bosthinatia, they said you could use that for transport purposes until Sariel's trial goes through. If you want."

Despite Nash's excitement at the Doctor's presence, he took a moment to carefully consider the Doctor's words, considering who they were coming from. He nodded quickly but was eager to move on, stepping towards a back room of the house and hesitating uncertainly at the doorway. He pointed vaguely. "Gina's in here... if you're ready to take a look. If you don't mind?"

The Doctor quickly pulled his hands out of his pockets. "Yes, of course." He peered quickly at Rose before preceding her and Nash into the room.

A pale girl with dark brown hair lay asleep and peaceful in the middle of the room, the bed appearing clean and comfortable. Rose guessed her to be about five years older than herself. A little monitor beeped softly on a life support unit off to the side, keeping watch on her vital signs and supplying her with nutrients.

"After allowing a moment for the Doctor and Rose to take in the scene, Nash spoke. "The doctors couldn't do anything more for her in hospital. She's stable enough to be watched from here. When her condition drops, they're pretty quick to make it out." He watched as the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned over the man's sister. "They've been studying her blood work for ages. I'm told they're still working on it, but I think they gave up long ago and are just waiting for her to get better on her own or..." Nash trailed off and swallowed thickly. "She's been sick so long. She's never going to get better on her own."

"There's always hope, Nash," the Doctor assured the man softly after switching off the sonic. He rested the tips of his fingers lightly over Gina's sternum. "Never say never, ever." His hand remained motionless for several moments before ghosting up to the young woman's temple. He then gently pulled her jaw open and looked into her mouth, then pulled away and faced Nash. "And we may be very, very lucky. I won't know for sure until I get back to the TARDIS, but I think I have what she needs." He looked to Rose. "I'll be right back. You okay to wait here?"

Rose was about to rise to her feet and insist she come with him, but she just kept herself from moving. She didn't want to let him out of her sight, but it was safe here, and she needed to be strong and not cling to him. Besides, Nash could use the company. "Yeah. Don't be long?"

"I won't." The Doctor disappeared out the door.

Rose sighed, steadying herself, and shared a small polite smile with Nash. Her eyes returned to Gina and lingered there. "She's beautiful."

Nash nodded in agreement. "She was even more so. Her illness has really taken the life out of her."

"The Doctor's amazing. If anyone can help her, it's him."

Nash nodded again. "I believe it."

They both watched Gina sleeping peacefully. Rose thought about something to distract Nash with. "So you must have a lot of happy memories from when you were children."

Nash beamed. It was clear he thought about such things often. Rose considered her choice of topic a great success, because he began to regale her with tale after tale. Rose was surprised when the Doctor reappeared just ten minutes later, holding up a futuristic-looking injection device and wearing a smug grin.

"Here we are. Just one more check." The Doctor retrieved his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and scanned Gina, checked it, then buzzed it at the other object in his hand. He nodded in satisfaction and bent to administer it to Gina while Nash and Rose watched in anticipation.

"That's it?" Nash said incredulously.

"Well, she'll be a while yet. Won't wake up for some time, probably. Like you said, she's been ill for a long time. I would call your doctors as soon as she does, though, to speed her recovery time."

Nash huffed in amazement. "What is she sick with?"

The Doctor took a deep breath and launched into his explanation. "A form of Flametongue flu. Hers isn't airborne. A massive outbreak almost wipes out a civilisation in the eighty-ninth century, I think it was. Near there, anyway. Although, how she came into contact with the contagion is beyond me. The cure was discovered and eventually saturated the market after everyone left alive was inoculated, including several neighboring planets. I picked up a sample last time I was in the area just in case I brought someone there again." He grinned. "Like I said, very, very lucky. She could have had the mumps, and then I would've had to take her to a treatment facility across the system and several centuries out to get the cure for that."

Rose frowned at him. "The mumps? But that was cured ages ago. My time, anyway."

The Doctor gazed down at where she stood crouched by the bedside, his expression sympathetic. "Diseases evolve, too, remember. Future virus. Nasty."

Nash understandably wasn't following, or didn't care about the fact that they were talking about traveling to the future. He suddenly reached out a hand for the Doctor's arm, his excited attention on his sister. "Look, Doctor! Her colour's already returning. I haven't seen her look this healthy in forever." He laughed in delighted relief.

The Doctor smiled at him. "I think she's gonna be just fine, Nash."

Nash clasped Gina's hand with one of his and reached to the bedside table, lifting the lid on a small box and pulling out a handful of pictures. "This was Gelry's. He kept it with him wherever we went, even Bosthinatia." He spread a few out on the blanket. They were all a combination of Nash, Gelry, and Gina before her illness, happy and smiling. Nash gazed at them, as if reminding himself what was to come, or perhaps what never would be again.

"I'm sorry, Nash," the Doctor said, guilt lacing his voice. "You gained your sister, only to lose your brother."

"No, Doctor." Nash shook his head adamantly. "You saved him. I've never seen him so brave, so selfless. You taught him that." Rose looked up to see the Doctor's smiling eyes, could see he was happy for the man, but Rose knew the Doctor. He still felt responsible for Gelry's death. Nash turned back to Gina and gently took her hand in both of his. "You would have been proud of him, Sis'. Our own Gelry! He gave his life for the Doctor, so the Doctor could cure you."

Rose quietly got to her feet next to the Doctor, entwined her fingers in his and squeezed his hand. He squeezed back and began to tug her towards the door.

Nash got to his feet. "Wait, Doctor! What if she needs you?"

"I'm confident she won't. The doctors of this time are capable enough." At Nash's uncertain expression, the Doctor offered him a small smile. "But just to make sure... You won't see me, but I'll keep watch on her progress. I promise."

This seemed to calm Nash, and he nodded apologetically. "Of course. I don't mean to impose. You've done so much. Thank you, Doctor." Nash turned his eyes to her. "And Rose." They both smiled at Nash and turned, but Nash called the Doctor's attention back. "I think... well, I'm going to take that job. With the Korwi. I want to help."

The Doctor beamed and they said their final goodbyes, left the little house and made their short journey to the TARDIS.

-^^-W-^^-

The Doctor allowed Rose to precede him into the TARDIS. She wandered up the grille-floored ramp as he shut the door and followed her, his eyes trailing up and down her backside as she went. She was completely _his_ now. A thrill rushed through him at the thought.

Rose stopped at the console and picked up the effigermus she had placed there earlier, rotating it in her hand and idly examining its open petals. He found himself licking his lips as he approached her.

"What do you think Lura will do?" Rose asked abruptly.

The Doctor stopped in front of her, more than bit hurt she had already moved on from her stage of admiring him as he saved the world yet again. "Dunno. Hunt for me, no doubt."

"Won't find us, though," she shot back, looking up from the pink flower to meet his eyes.

Raising his arms, the Doctor enfolded Rose in a gentle embrace. "Not if I can help it."

"So, we gonna check on Gina's progress, then? Forwards in time, what, a few days? Weeks?"

"Mm," the Doctor began, pulling his voice down into as flirty and seductive a tone as he could. He leaned forward, teasing Rose's lips with his own. "Or we could just let a few days pass right here and check back when we're done." He could feel Rose's breathing immediately quicken. The Doctor lowered his eyes to the effigermus in her hand. "Now..." "What do you say I go about making my Rose bloom again..."

Rose shook her head and immediately flushed, looking away. "I can't believe you just said that."

He grinned at her wickedly, watching the tip of her tongue run its teasing course across her lips with intense interest. She saw him watching and immediately bit down on her lip, stopping herself from driving him mad further with her unconscious habit. Instead, he now considered offering to bite down on her lip for her. Angling his head, the Doctor ran the tip of his nose across her face, barely touching her and whispering her skin with his breath. Rose's eyelids fluttered. Oh, how easily he could make her submit to him.

Oh how easily she made him do it to her.

Rose, having enough, finally pounced on his mouth. The Doctor hummed happily and gently fingered the effigermus from her hand, blindly setting it on the console behind her and wrapping his arms tightly across her back.

The kiss quickly heated, Rose taking him by the tongue and sucking quite forcefully. The Doctor groaned and pushed into her a little wildly, causing Rose to catch hold of his coat lapels, as if he would let her fall. He raised a hand and rubbed his fingertips across her temple, gasping at the intimate contact with his mind.

Rose suddenly pulled back. "God, I need a change of clothes," she panted.

The Doctor growled and reclaimed her mouth, deciding that was very much _not _a good reason to break the kiss. His thoughts then focused on a mental image of hers that had drifted into his mind, and he found a good reason after all, raising his head just out of her reach. "You referring to the picture in your head of me and you in the shower?"

"Mm," Rose grinned slowly. "Or a nice hot bath."

"Mm, even better." The Doctor suddenly pouted. "I forgot to get some soaps from Bosthinatia. They make your hair smell nice. Well, not that you don't smell nice anyway, but I do and probably will forever associate the scent with a particularly special night we shared..."

"We'll have to drop by for a visit," Rose assured him in a rush. "For now, those exotic flavours sitting in my bathroom cupboard being useless will have to do."

"Sounds good. We should go sooner than later, though." The Doctor rocked against her just enough to prove his point. "If I wait much longer, I won't be able to walk."

Rose bit her lip, failing to hide her amusement. "Trouble walking, you say?" She gently pulled out of the Doctor's arms. "Good, then that means you won't be able to catch me until—" the Doctor took a swipe at her, but Rose dodged and the rest of her words came out in a laugh as she began to run, "—we make it to the water!"


End file.
